NICOLA Tuthill is fast building a reputation as a technical thrower of note – her coach Killian Barry has taken calls from coaches around the world who have been impressed by what they’re seeing from this rising star.
‘She is starting to become known in her event, which is brilliant,’ Killian says. The secret is out: this 20-year-old from Kilbrittain is one to watch and is already turning heads ahead of her Olympic Games debut in Paris; the women’s hammer qualification is on Sunday, August 4th.
Nicola’s technique is making her stand out from the crowd.
‘Technique is the most important overall,’ explains Barry, who has been coaching the West Cork athlete since 2019 after he got a call to say that there was a girl from outside Bandon showing promise in the hammer. The following year, as a 16-year-old, she won the Irish senior women’s hammer title. Her star has been rising ever since.
‘You can be as strong as a horse but if you don't have the technical ability to accelerate the hammer, it won’t go far – that’s the reality,’ Barry says.
‘At the highest level the technical aspects are crucial, and Nicola has developed a really great technique and is consistent with that. It also comes down to being able to perform under pressure and in those environments, and to have a technique that holds up and that is consistent.’
THE DREAM TEAM: Nicola Tuthill with her coach Killian Barry.(Photo: Martin Walsh)
Nicola’s rise is important for the hammer, Barry insists, as she is proving how crucial the technical element is and that this is not a strength-based sport. For a 20-year-old to throw over 70 metres, finish ninth at her first European Athletics Championships and now qualify for an Olympic Games is a boost to the hammer. ‘Strength does play a role and Nicola has done a lot of work with Roland Korom, her strength coach, but the technical side is crucial,’ Barry adds.
‘I have got messages from coaches I know from all over the world who have contacted me about Nicola’s technique and how impressed they are with her ability to hit those difficult positions, hit them with speed and be really consistent, regardless of the environment she is in.
‘It’s important for the sport as well; we don’t want it to become a strength-orientated event, we want it to be about technique and speed, and that's what makes our sport special. Nicola is an example of that.’
The three-time Irish senior women’s hammer champion is also an example that hard work pays off. Nicola and her coach will acknowledge that she is ahead of schedule in terms of qualifying for an Olympics at this stage in her career, given that hammer throwers don’t reach their peak until their late 20s and early 30s. But there is just something about Nicola – she has the ideal mindset to complement her technical strengths.
‘Nicola doesn’t get carried away with all the success she’s having,’ Barry says.
‘She’s cool, calm and collected, and has a humble outlook on her own performance and that hasn’t changed since I started working with her. That’s woven into how she deals with the more pressurised events. She has extremely high standards and expects a lot from herself, but at the same time she is very humble and her mindset is humble.’
That quest to be the best has led Nicola from her own home-made throwing circle and cage on the family farm in Baurleigh, Kilbrittain to the Olympic stage, and her coach has no worries about her ability to deal with stepping up to the highest level. She’s proven herself over and over again. Winning a national senior title at just 16 years of age with a then personal best of 60.04m. At the European Team Championships last summer, Nicola threw a then PB of 67.85m in Poland. Rewind to the 2022 World U20s in Colombia and, just months after dislocating her elbow, she threw a then PB of 61.87m to finish eighth. At her first European Championships, in Rome in June, she threw 69.85m and 69.09m to first qualify for the final and then finish ninth in Europe. Nicola isn’t fazed by the big occasions – and that's a nod to her mental strength which has impressed so many, including Barry.
‘Nicola is young, but she doesn’t act like it. She acts like a seasoned pro in so many ways,’ he says. It’s that approach that will serve Nicola well when she has her three throws in her qualification group on August 4th – she will look to maximise the opportunity and see where that takes her.’ The one certainty though is Nicola is here to stay.
