Corkers: Nicola Tuthill and Anika Thompson shine at European U23 Championships

Cork hammer thrower Nicola Tuthill made history by claiming silver in the European U23 Championships with a throw of 70.90m.

This is the first field event medal for Ireland at the championships, with Tuthill throwing her best of the competition in the fourth round.

“Second is where I was ranked, and second is where I came, so delighted with that. 

I’m always looking for a little bit more, but these medals are really hard to come by.

"It’s really special.. I know there is more in but it’s still another throw over 70m and my third best in the competition, so in a major championships like this, with the nerves and everything that comes with it I’m delighted."

Earlier this year, the West Cork native recently won Ireland its first-ever gold medal at the European Throwing Cup, throwing 69.74m to take victory in the women’s U23 hammer at Nicosia, Cyprus. She is already an Olympian and was in top form at the recent Cork City Sports meet at MTU Arena.

In the women’s 1,000m final, Anika Thompson, who has a Cork connection through her mother, made history, becoming only the second ever Irish athlete to win gold at the European U23 Championships.

Thompson, who is affiliated with Leevale AC club though she was born in the US, went out hard, sticking with the leaders for the majority of the 24-lap race before sprinting home to take the win in a new national U23 record of 32:31.47.

After the gold-medal-winning race, Thompson explains she has been working for experiences like this.

“Track and field is a sport of process, and every day I give my 100% for moments like this,” Thompson said.

GRIT

The newly crowned champion said she wanted to attack the race from the start and showed grit throughout the race to stick with the pace.

“The plan was to go by instincts, and I trusted my gut, and I knew that if I had every tactic in the bag, I could do well, I could win if it goes out slow or if it goes out honest.” 

Her parents were unable to attend, but her wider family from Cork was in the crowd to cheer her on.

My granny Marie, my aunt Fiona, and my uncle Kevin are here… I was glad to put on a show for them.” 

Overall, there were seven Cork athletes included in the 37-strong Irish squad for the European U23 T&F Championships in Bergen, Norway: Tuthill (UCD AC and Bandon), Maeve O'Neill (Dohney AC), Max O'Reilly (Riverstick-Kinsale AC), Aoife O'Sullivan (Liscarroll AC) and Aoife Hernon (Bandon AC), along with Leevale AC athletes Lucy May Sleeman and Thompson.