KILBRITTAIN teenager Nicola Tuthill secured an impressive eighth-place finish in the hammer throw final at the U20 World Championships in Colombia.
Tuthill, whose top throw in the final was 60.47m, looked right at home with the best in the world.
What’s even more remarkable is that the Bandon AC athlete dislocated and fractured her elbow in March.
Fast forward five months and she was selected to represent Ireland at the World U20 Championships in Cali.
She finished sixth in her semi-final, throwing a personal best of 61.87m in the process, to book her place in the world final.
Tuthill then finished under one metre behind a podium position in the final.
Italian Rachele Mori was a comfortable winner but there was only 2.27m between second place and Tuthill in eighth.
It’s one of the comeback stories of the year so far.
‘I’m delighted,’ Tuthill said after her PB in the world semi-final.
‘I dislocated and fractured my elbow last March and I was very iffy as to whether I’d be back training by now but even so I’m not even back training two months, fully of course. I have my coaches and family to thank for that. I couldn’t be here without them all.’
18-year-old Tuthill’s elbow got caught while she was in action in the European Throwing Cup in Portugal, which is how the injury occurred.
The talented West Cork teenager started back throwing light hammers just over seven weeks ago, moving up gradually from the 2.5kg hammer to the 4kg.
Before the championships even began, there was a sense that Tuthill was inching towards top form.
With two throws over 60 metres on a world championship stage, it is safe to say those predictions were spot on.
It’s also worth mentioning that she missed three months of full-on training.
‘I kind of felt light at the first throw and just kind of played it by year. I knew I had been back in training so I was just hoping for the best,’ Tuthill explained, as the former Irish women’s senior champion showed there’s a lot more to come in the years ahead.
