The Southern Star's coverage of the Olympics in brought to you in partnership with Cork County Council
NICOLA Tuthill is a woman ahead of schedule.
The West Cork hammer thrower is set to appear at her first Olympic games at the age of just 20. In a sport where many athletes peak in their early 30s, she's bucking the trend.
Her rise to this stage has been nothing short of incredible. The rising star had won NINE national titles – between U16, U17, U19, U20, U23 and senior – before she turned 20 last December.
Since then, she's broken the magic 70m mark for the first time and catapulted herself into this year's Olympics.
It's been a team effort to get the Kilbrittain native to this point – most notably in the homemade throwing circle and cage that her father, Norman, built for her in a field right outside her bedroom window.
Nicola Tuthill and her father Norman laying down the 'secret recipe' mix of concrete for her throwing circle.
Ahead of this year's games in Paris, Southern Star Sport editor Kieran McCarthy travelled to Tuthill's family home to find out more. Watch above.
***
Video produced by Kieran McCarthy and Dylan Mangan. Videography: Tony O'Shaughnessy. Written and edited by Dylan Mangan.
Don't miss this week's Southern Star for our special souvenir supplement AND a free giant glossy poster, out Thursday, July 25th.
Subscribe to The Southern Star today for less than €2 per week and support local, trusted journalism by clicking here.
Click here to sign up for our sport mailing list and get the best of West Cork delivered straight to your inbox.
