NICOLA TUTHILL HAS qualified for her first global final in the Women’s Hammer Throw at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old Cork native threw a best of 70.70 metres to finish sixth in qualification group A, leaving her with a nervous two-hour wait before her place in the top 12 was confirmed.
The breakthrough performance comes after a memorable summer in which she secured silver at World University Games and European U23 Athletics Championships.
“It was a really stressful couple of hours watching Group B waiting to find out but I’m delighted to have made it now.
“(It has) probably not (sunk in). It probably won’t for a while, but for field events back in Ireland, it’s so important. It’s lovely that we’re out there representing and hopefully people watching at home will be inspired and there’ll be a new generation coming up behind us.”
Tuthill now goes into tomorrow’s final at 1pm Irish time. “You never know at championships, but I definitely would like to throw further.
“I threw further than that at nationals there a few weeks ago [71.75m PB], I’m always looking to be better. I’d definitely love to get closer to my PB, but you just never know. It’s a major final, and I’m still quite young. I’m just excited to be there.”
Lavin after her race. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Lavin sealed her place in the Women’s 100m Hurdles semi-finals, the Limerick star finished third in her heat in 12.94 seconds.
Advertisement
“That was less than perfect,” Lavin admitted.
“I’m surprised that time automatically qualifies, but if you look at everyone’s times, they’re all a bit down. You can bring whatever to a championship, but you’ve got to deliver in the moment, it’s like the Leaving Cert!
“My strength is the second half of my race and that’s my main positive to take from today. I didn’t panic and I came through, I’m grateful that’s there. Now I need to get the first half right.”
The semi-finals get underway tomorrow at 1.05pm Irish time, with the final slated for 2.20pm.
Coscoran on the charge, with Ingebrigsten to the back. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Coscoran advanced to the Men’s 1500m semi-finals by finishing sixth in his heat in 3:37.32. Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen failed to progress from the same heat.
Coscoran, who is also competing across 5,000m, said he was “happy out” afterwards.
“I cut it fine going through in sixth, but I suppose you just have to come in the top six and no higher. I’m through to the semi-finals and I’m happy with my performance,” said the Dubliner.
The semi-finals are also tomorrow, from 1.30pm Irish time, with the final on Wednesday.
Ireland’s Cathal Doyle failed to progress in the same event, finishing 12th in his heat in 3:42.60, but the major shock was Ingebrigtsen crashing out. His bid to put an injury-plagued season behind him bombed in a “terrible” showing.
Ingebrigtsen, who won Olympic 1500m gold in Tokyo in 2021 but was searching for a first world title over the distance, has been laid low with an achilles injury that has seen him miss all of the outdoor season.
Things seemed as normal as Ingebrigtsen fell into his usual spot at the back of the pack.
But coming into the final lap, the 24-year-old was boxed in on the inside with seemingly little room to manoeuvre.
As it was, Ingebrigtsen had nothing to offer acceleration-wise and eventually finished eighth in a heat won by Britain’s Jake Wightman.
Jacob Ingebrigsten after the race. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“It’s a first-time experience that I haven’t got to the next round,” said Ingebrigtsen.
“Of course, it’s very disappointing but at the same time it is a reality check.
“This is an event that’s very competitive. You need to prepare your best and of course, I’m not there.”
The question now is whether Ingebrigtsen, who picked up his injury after completing a rare world indoor double over 1500m and 3,000m in Nanjing in March, bids for a third world title in the 5,000m, with heats scheduled for Friday and final on Sunday.
But the Norwegian remained as optimistic as he could in the immediate wake of such a disappointing outing.
“I think I’m probably closer for the 5,000m race right now,” he maintained.
“I’ll recover and have a couple of good days until I go again (in the 5,000m heats) and try again. Everything is a test. I was trying to do my best to advance to the semi-final but it was terrible.
“You have to start and you have to try.”
Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Women’s 400m heats), Sarah Healy, Sophie O’Sullivan (Women’s 1500m semi-finals), and Efrem Gidey (Men’s 10,000m final) are the Irish action this afternoon.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Tuthill, Lavin and Coscoran progress in Tokyo as injury-hit Ingebrigtsen crashes out
NICOLA TUTHILL HAS qualified for her first global final in the Women’s Hammer Throw at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old Cork native threw a best of 70.70 metres to finish sixth in qualification group A, leaving her with a nervous two-hour wait before her place in the top 12 was confirmed.
The breakthrough performance comes after a memorable summer in which she secured silver at World University Games and European U23 Athletics Championships.
“I’m buzzing now,” Tuthill told Athletics Ireland.
“It was a really stressful couple of hours watching Group B waiting to find out but I’m delighted to have made it now.
“(It has) probably not (sunk in). It probably won’t for a while, but for field events back in Ireland, it’s so important. It’s lovely that we’re out there representing and hopefully people watching at home will be inspired and there’ll be a new generation coming up behind us.”
Tuthill now goes into tomorrow’s final at 1pm Irish time. “You never know at championships, but I definitely would like to throw further.
“I threw further than that at nationals there a few weeks ago [71.75m PB], I’m always looking to be better. I’d definitely love to get closer to my PB, but you just never know. It’s a major final, and I’m still quite young. I’m just excited to be there.”
While Fionnuala McCormack powered to a brilliant ninth-placed finish in the Women’s Marathon, Sarah Lavin and Andrew Coscoran also progressed in the 100m Hurdles and 1500m respectively.
Lavin sealed her place in the Women’s 100m Hurdles semi-finals, the Limerick star finished third in her heat in 12.94 seconds.
“That was less than perfect,” Lavin admitted.
“I’m surprised that time automatically qualifies, but if you look at everyone’s times, they’re all a bit down. You can bring whatever to a championship, but you’ve got to deliver in the moment, it’s like the Leaving Cert!
“My strength is the second half of my race and that’s my main positive to take from today. I didn’t panic and I came through, I’m grateful that’s there. Now I need to get the first half right.”
The semi-finals get underway tomorrow at 1.05pm Irish time, with the final slated for 2.20pm.
Coscoran advanced to the Men’s 1500m semi-finals by finishing sixth in his heat in 3:37.32. Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen failed to progress from the same heat.
Coscoran, who is also competing across 5,000m, said he was “happy out” afterwards.
“I cut it fine going through in sixth, but I suppose you just have to come in the top six and no higher. I’m through to the semi-finals and I’m happy with my performance,” said the Dubliner.
The semi-finals are also tomorrow, from 1.30pm Irish time, with the final on Wednesday.
Ireland’s Cathal Doyle failed to progress in the same event, finishing 12th in his heat in 3:42.60, but the major shock was Ingebrigtsen crashing out. His bid to put an injury-plagued season behind him bombed in a “terrible” showing.
Ingebrigtsen, who won Olympic 1500m gold in Tokyo in 2021 but was searching for a first world title over the distance, has been laid low with an achilles injury that has seen him miss all of the outdoor season.
Things seemed as normal as Ingebrigtsen fell into his usual spot at the back of the pack.
But coming into the final lap, the 24-year-old was boxed in on the inside with seemingly little room to manoeuvre.
As it was, Ingebrigtsen had nothing to offer acceleration-wise and eventually finished eighth in a heat won by Britain’s Jake Wightman.
“It’s a first-time experience that I haven’t got to the next round,” said Ingebrigtsen.
“Of course, it’s very disappointing but at the same time it is a reality check.
“This is an event that’s very competitive. You need to prepare your best and of course, I’m not there.”
The question now is whether Ingebrigtsen, who picked up his injury after completing a rare world indoor double over 1500m and 3,000m in Nanjing in March, bids for a third world title in the 5,000m, with heats scheduled for Friday and final on Sunday.
But the Norwegian remained as optimistic as he could in the immediate wake of such a disappointing outing.
“I think I’m probably closer for the 5,000m race right now,” he maintained.
“I’ll recover and have a couple of good days until I go again (in the 5,000m heats) and try again. Everything is a test. I was trying to do my best to advance to the semi-final but it was terrible.
“You have to start and you have to try.”
Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Women’s 400m heats), Sarah Healy, Sophie O’Sullivan (Women’s 1500m semi-finals), and Efrem Gidey (Men’s 10,000m final) are the Irish action this afternoon.
- With reporting from – © AFP 2025
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Athletics Irish Eye Tokyo World Athletics Championships