{"id":406264,"date":"2026-04-19T06:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406264\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T06:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:52:11","slug":"hungry-for-more-a-day-spent-with-one-of-irelands-most-exciting-olympians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406264\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Hungry for more’ – a day spent with one of Ireland’s most exciting Olympians"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE PHOTOGRAPHER GETS into position to capture the scene. He lies down on his flat, nudges the camera under the fish netting and directs the woman inside the concrete circle with the metal apparatus by her side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two swings gets the 4kg ball up in the air. And then it\u2019s into the rotations where her outstretched arms keep the ball in flight. One rotation after another.<\/p>\n

Turn. Turn. Turn. Turn. Whirl. Whirl. Whirl.<\/p>\n

It becomes a tornado of movement. A powerful balance of arms, legs, wire and ball propelling each other in circular motion.<\/p>\n

And then her foot lands outside the circle. The ball floats down to a soft landing. The movement stops. The noise fades. Normally, there\u2019s a launch at the end of the fourth turn. And she can send that ball over 70 metres.<\/p>\n

On the day\u00a0The 42\u00a0calls to visit, Nicola Tuthill has already packed in over 40 throws from the homemade hammer throw cage beside her family home in Kilbrittain, West Cork. There\u2019s plenty of online clips that show the final product of her routine.<\/p>\n

Her ninth-place finish at the 2024 European Championships. Narrowly missing out on a place in the final at the Paris Olympics later that year. 11th at last year\u2019s World Championships. All before reaching the age of 22. That\u2019s all documented elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Today, though, the photographer just needs a few demonstration shots. He tries several angles to get the right picture. And then a few more. And a few more. More turning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking for a different image of this woman at work, he starts walking down the field, scoping out the typical landing zone for those big throws. He pulls up at a certain point and turns back towards the cage.<\/p>\n

\u201cEm . . . you\u2019ll have to move back further than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NICOLATUTHILL1\"
\n Ireland hammer throw athlete Nicola Tuthill. Martin Walsh<\/p>\n

Martin Walsh\n<\/p>\n

Turn 1<\/p>\n

The kettle boils as Nicola\u2019s mother Collette describes the origins of the hammer throw cage in the field on their dairy farm. A lunchbox packed with biscuits slides across the table for the mug of coffee that follows.<\/p>\n

The old arrangement just wasn\u2019t working any more. When Nicola first started throwing the hammer, she trained in the cage at Bandon AC. Sisters Aoife and Olivia were often brought along, sitting in the back of the car doing their homework.<\/p>\n

They had their own interests too, and Collette did all the driving to keep all three schedules on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0were all doing similar sports,\u201d Nicola continues. \u201cBut we also all had different sports, so I\u2019d be training,\u00a0the\u00a0two girls would be in the car doing their homework, and then there\u2019d be other times where\u00a0maybe all of us would be training at the same time, and she\u2019d be running here, there and everywhere, trying to keep up with us all.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe played a massive\u00a0role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collette knew the benefits of being involved in sport after years spent playing camogie and hockey. And like her daughters, she also dabbled in athletics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She came up with a workaround for Nicola\u2019s needs in 2019. She handed over the construction plans for a hammer throw cage to her husband, Norman. They had help from neighbours and workers on the farm to get the project done. All in, the work took about two days to complete.<\/p>\n

The fish netting that surrounds the cage came from Schull, a seaside village in West Cork. That\u2019s been topped up since. More concrete has been poured in front of the circle too, and a stone path has been added just outside to cut across the grass, and create a link with the laneway that leads up to their house.<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp
\n Nicola Tuthill and her father, Norman, building the hammer throw cage beside their home. Nicola Tuthill<\/p>\n

Nicola Tuthill\n<\/p>\n

Nicola was involved too, surveying her Dad and blessing the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was probably just sitting there annoying him probably,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s really nice to have that photo to look back on, the day it was built,\u00a0that dad was there, I think he was floating the circle, making sure it was all level, and I was\u00a0kind of sitting there watching on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turn 2<\/p>\n

\u201c11th in the world is crazy but to not be over 70 metres is a little bit upsetting. It wasn\u2019t there on the day. I\u2019ve been consistent over 70, I think I\u2019ve done it maybe seven times this year so knowing I wanted to do that is kinda tough but I was 11th; I can\u2019t complain.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Nicola Tuthill, RT\u00c9, September 2025<\/p>\n

She knew she had to be happy. Finishing 11th at her first World Championships in Tokyo last year was a brilliant achievement. The latest milestone in an athletics career that continues to soar. Hammer throw athletes tend to peak at an older age but she\u2019s clearly suited to life at elite level. Even if she is ahead of schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuthill also had some big debuts in 2024. She went to her first European Championships in Rome where she finished ninth, and her maiden Olympics in Paris saw her take 16th. She was the youngest competitor in the field on that occasion, narrowly missing out on a place in the final by just\u00a01.16m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u2018This is going to encourage so many kids\u2019- @rm_heffernan<\/a> and @dervalorourke<\/a> on Nicola Tuthill\u2019s ninth-place finish in the final of the women’s hammer throw with a best throw of 69.09m #Roma2024<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rZkQ2PZS86<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 RT\u00c9 Sport (@RTEsport) June 10, 2024<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201c2024 was quite a breakthrough year, as my first year competing individually as a senior at European Championships and then Paris after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat made me hungry for more and I was doing all the work and training so I knew that the possibility to make these major championships was there and having gone to them, it gave me a taste for more. As you\u2019re getting older, everything improves \u2013 your technique, strength, power, speed and nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these little one per centers every year, making those small gains and I think they\u2019re all adding up now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her most recent achievement was a silver medal at the European Throwing Cup in March where she managed a new personal best throw of 72.48m despite only recently returning from injury. A torn muscle attached to her collarbone sidelined her for five weeks but she managed to get some training in before the event in Cyprus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0had actually thrown a 72m that week in training. That was a really long time coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s now in the mainframe for Eileen O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s national senior record of 73.21m. The Kilkenny woman has become something of a mentor for Tuthill, helping her navigate a road that she once walked.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s really lovely,\u201d Tuthill says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hard on myself. She says to always enjoy the process. She\u2019ll message me after big competitions, or if she sees that I\u2019m after making a big throw, she\u2019ll give me a good text and say, \u2018Well done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The heights that Tuthill is scaling now can be traced back to a conversation at a neighbour\u2019s communion party.<\/p>\n

She was already involved in athletics at that stage and was focusing mainly on cross-country running. She started throwing the hammer at around 12, but the path ahead wasn\u2019t clear for her in that event.<\/p>\n

\"nicola-tuthill\"
\n Nicola Tuthill at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Ryan Byrne \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Ryan Byrne \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

Also attending that communion party was a man called Kevin Warner, who used to be hammer thrower. He offered to be her first coach. It\u2019s difficult to tell if another avenue into the cage would have come along, but that meeting remains a crucial plot point in her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cChances are, I probably would have stuck with the running if I didn\u2019t give it a go and properly start training for it. That neighbour will still text me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll call up when I win a medal or something like that. I\u2019ll call up to the house because when I was younger, that was a tradition. He\u2019ll still text me and say, \u2018well done.\u2019 He\u2019ll be following along, which is nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut definitely, it could have gone either way at the time, and I\u2019m very lucky it went the way it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuthill continued with her running, eventually switching to shorter distances where an emphasis on speed and power brought more benefits to her throwing. But by the time the hammer throw cage was built in 2019, running was gradually phased out.<\/p>\n

Her first taste of international competition that year made the final decision for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the Schools International with\u00a0the hammer, and having that small taster . . . \u2018This is something that I could potentially do again, and again, and at a higher level.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was just 16 when she won her first senior gold medal at the 2020 national athletics championships. Her winning throw of 60.04m made her just the sixth Irish woman to exceed the 60m distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was starting to dream a little. That year, I\u2019d qualified for European U18s, but they were cancelled because of Covid. That would have been my first time hitting a European standard, and I think that was kind of when I was like, \u2018I\u2019m still quite young, and this is a possibility now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving won that first national title at 16, I threw 60 metres, which would have been quite a big throw for a 16-year-old, so that was another confidence booster that I\u2019d made the right choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turn 3<\/p>\n

We step back into house after the photo shoot in the hammer throw cage. Katie the dog is there to greet us. Off go the shoes that Tuthill was using in the circle. Hammer throw shoes don\u2019t tend to last long as they are built for speed and rotation. She goes through about eight pairs a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tape is another precious resource: it\u2019s needed for her fingers during competition. A roll of that could be gone in a week. The 4kg ball mentioned earlier is only used for competition. Tuthill typically trains with a 5kg ball which she can hurl over 60m.<\/p>\n

We walk through the various rooms of their lovely home. A clothes horse then appears with Ireland gear draped across the bars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"nicola-tuthill\"
\n Tuthill during a throw at the 2024 European Championships in Rome. Morgan Treacy \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Morgan Treacy \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

The walls are beautifully decorated in pictures that tell the story of Tuthill\u2019s rise.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one photo of her standing with Olympic silver-medallist Sonia O\u2019Sullivan. And another with Rob Heffernan, the walker who won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicola\u2019s sisters are up there on the walls too, all of their achievements sitting side by side in frames. Olivia, the eldest, is heavily involved in dancing while the youngest daughter, Aoife, is a great singer. They both tried athletics in their younger years and have thrown the hammer once or twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made them both throw it on the odd\u00a0occasion,\u201d Tuthill laughs. \u201cJust for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that we all get on really well, and we\u2019re sisters, but we\u2019re also best friends,\u00a0which is nice, that we can kind of talk to each other about things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia coaches at the RD Dance academy where all three sisters tried hip hop, commercial and freestyle forms of dancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t the best in comparison to my siblings, hence why it got the boot,\u201d Tuthill continues. \u201cBut I enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuthill had other interests she had to leave\u00a0 behind as her athletics career started to pick up speed. Two gorgeous ponies on her father\u2019s farm, Holly and Polo, symbolise her love of horse riding. She still goes on hacks with her friends when she has time.<\/p>\n

The cows and calves are nearby too in the various sheds around the farmyard. At peak times, some 200 cows pass through the milking parlour which is also on site. The Tuthill farm was featured on an episode of RT\u00c9\u2019s Ear To The Ground in the aftermath of the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brilliant, but she\u2019s still Nicola,\u201d her proud father Norman said during the episode, with Nicola smiling beside him. Along with building the hammer cage for his daughter, he helps with the repair work too whenever a wire snaps or a handle breaks.<\/p>\n

Not everyone can travel with Tuthill when she\u2019s competing abroad but her Olympics debut in Paris was a major family occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice that a lot of my family were able to go, and a few of my friends were able to go out as well, which was really nice. When I came out after competing, they were all there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turn 4<\/p>\n

\"nicola-tuthill-with-coach-killian-barry\"
\n Tuthill talking to her coach Killian Barry at the Paris Olympics. Ryan Byrne \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Ryan Byrne \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

The wait to discover whether or not she had made the 2025 world final was torture. Tuthill sat in the stands beside her coach, Killian Barry, watching each effort intently.<\/p>\n

After two bad throws, Tuthill launched herself into contention with a 70.7m beamer. That put her in sixth place with another group of throwers to follow. Only the top 12 could progress to the final.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid they pass me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid they not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Patience is a major requirement for hammer throw athletes. That particular day started at 6.30am for Tuthill with a warm-up before heading for the call room an hour later. Athletes do what they can to kill time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people will be chatting,\u201d Tuthill adds. \u201cSome people won\u2019t talk.\u00a0I\u2019ll talk\u00a0when someone talks to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wait between turns is lengthy too. But Tuthill and Barry make good use of that time to assess the throw she cannot change and reset for the next one. It\u2019s how they navigated that nervy wait for the final which she did reach in Tokyo, and it\u2019s how they responded from her first throw at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI caged my first throw and my last session beforehand, I was in tears. It was not a good day for me. And then I fouled my first throw into the net, and there\u2019s only two more then. It\u2019s the biggest stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it was kind of prime position for me to panic but I think I know myself that all the work had been done and I was able to go back to Killian and he was like, \u2018Well actually, it was just this tiny thing you did wrong and you know how to fix that. You\u2019ll be fine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Training follows a similar pattern. Barry is a native of Dublin and has moved to Cork. But even though he lives in Tuthill\u2019s home county, he can\u2019t always be around. He empowers her to run her own show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very calm. If things are going wrong he\u2019ll know not to panic, because if he panics I panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants me to be able to see the corrections myself and, as an\u00a0athlete, you need to have a good awareness\u00a0of the technique yourself. If there\u2019s sessions that he\u2019s not there\u00a0for, I need to be able to work on things, and know that this felt wrong.\u00a0And I\u2019ll take videos myself. I go\u00a0to competitions sometimes by myself, so just that\u00a0you know how to fix things.\u201d<\/p>\n

****<\/p>\n

Tuthill is always looking for more. More progress. More championships. More PBs. More improvements in her technique. She finds joy in looking for new ways to finesse her form. At the moment, she\u2019s focusing on the minutiae of the entry point in her routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had nothing to improve, then where are you going?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That 73m national record is in her sights too, along with the European Championships which will be her headline event of 2026. She has college to balance with all that too, and is currently on teaching placement in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Always chasing the high of a good turn. And all that comes with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen that often, where you\u2019re genuinely excited. \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019ve thrown that.\u2019\u00a0It\u2019s not like you go out every week\u00a0and PB. So, those kind of times when you do, it\u2019s always special.\u201d<\/p>\n