She was just 20 at the time, and a late qualifier for the hammer throw via her world ranking. But she rose to the challenge. After sending the 4kg metal ball into the net on her first attempt, she “kept calm” and launched a big effort in the second round, then went bigger again in the third, her 69.90m leaving her 16th overall and just over a metre shy of making the Olympic final.
She’d been all over Europe last summer, sitting her exams at UCD early to go and chase Olympic qualification, her ninth-place finish in the European final helping that cause. But hopping around the circuit is an expensive game, which is where support from the Jerry Kiernan Foundation was vital, with Tuthill among the list of athletes supported last year.
“The bulk of the money would have gone towards me being able to travel to get those ranking points,” she says.
Tuthill has been announced as one of 12 athletes who will be supported this year by the foundation, which was set up by Murt Coleman to honour the legacy of the late, great coach and athlete. She will also receive a Sport Ireland grant of €18,000, and when it comes to mixing it with the world’s best, every little helps.
She splits her week between Dublin, where she’s midway through her degree in maths and science in education, and her native Cork, where she trains under the guidance of coach Killian Barry.
Tuthill made a superb start to 2025, winning Ireland’s first ever gold medal at the European Throwing Cup in Cyprus last month with a 69.74m throw.
“It was amazing to stand up the top of the podium and listen to the national anthem,” she says. “I really wanted it as I’d been second the two years previous, but it was such a strong field. To throw close to 70 that early in the season was really promising.”
In training, she’s been doing a “a lot of heavy volume”, working on her strength, speed and power while adding that there are “so many technical elements” that she can still improve. Her Irish U-23 record of 70.32m looks on borrowed time, though this year will be all about championships. Tuthill will target the European Team Championships in June, the European U-23s and World University Games in July and hopes to also be at the big one in September: the World Championships in Tokyo.
“It could be a busy summer,” she says. “I’d love to break 70 a bit more consistently, and that would lead to me achieving the rest of my goals.”
Jerry Kiernan Foundation – supported athletes 2025
Hugh Armstrong, Dara Donohue, Ryan Creech, Joe Doody, Ciara Neville, Keelan Kilrehill, Nicola Tuthill, Shona Heaslip, Oisin Joyce, Bori Akinola, John Fitzsimons, Charlie O’Donovan