Latest news with #EuropeanU-23Championships
Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I just feel really weak at the moment' – Ireland's Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen scrapes into World 800m final
Wiffen clocked 7:46.36 to finish fifth in his heat and had a nerve-wrecking wait to see if he would progress. With the final heat results confirmed, Wiffen progressed eighth overall and will have an outside lane for Wednesday's final, where he will look to defend the title he won at the World Championships in Doha in 2024. Wiffen said after the race: "I mean, obviously pretty disappointed with the overall swim of the 800, but we've got a lane, so we've got a chance to defend my title, and I'm going in with that mindset that I can win this still, even though I'm eighth in." He added: "I just feel really weak at the moment. I felt it in the 400m [freestyle] and then I felt it in the 800 free, so something's going wrong. I just need to figure out what it is and then change it for tomorrow night's final.' The men's 800m freestyle final will take place on Wednesday at 12.02 (Irish time), exactly one year on from Wiffen's gold medal-winning swim in Paris. In the 200m butterfly heats, National Centre Limerick's Jack Cassin swam a personal best 1:57.04 to secure a top-20 place in the world. Cassin's best had been a 1:57.34 from the European U-23 Championships in June, where he finished fourth in the final. The Cork native said: "I'm definitely happy with that, you know. It's been a long season, so I'm kind of happy to drop some more time in that 200. Definitely have to, like, refine some skills, see what I can work on for the next season, but it's definitely motivated me now." There will be no Irish swimmers in action in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, 200m individual medley finalist Ellen Walshe returns for the 200m butterfly heats. Walshe, who only added the event back to her roster earlier this year after a five-year gap, has already made huge strides, dropping from a best of 2:14.15 in 2020 to an Irish record of 2:08.42 in March this year. Danielle Hill returns for the 50m backstroke and Evan Bailey, who swam the 200m Freestyle semi-final on Monday, is back for the 100m freestyle heats.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Another Irish medal at World University Games as ‘delighted' Nicola Tuthill takes silver in hammer
It's the second major medal in 10 days for the 21-year-old UCD student, who also won silver at the European U-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway. The final was dominated by China's Zhao Jie, who threw 72.80m to take gold, while Tuthill was over two metres clear of the bronze medallist, Sara Killinen of Finland (67.80m). 'I'm delighted, it's my first medal on a world stage and to come off silver last week and get another one here is pretty special,' said Tuthill, who had struggled early in the final, with two throws of 66 metres and a foul. 'It was a really stressful competition, to be honest. My first throws were some of the worst I had all year. Other than qualifying, my last five competitions have all been over 70 metres so it was bugging me a bit that I wasn't getting up there.' However, Tuthill improved her best mark in each of the three rounds that followed, throwing 67.80m, 68.46 and finishing with 69.98m. Her Irish U-23 record is the 71.71m she threw in Finland last month. Coupled with Kate O'Connor's heptathlon gold, it rounds out another strong championships for the Irish, with Tuthill the first field eventer to win a medal at the event since Eileen O'Keefe in 2007, who also won silver in the hammer. 'There's a lot of hours spent training and my coach Killian [Barry] was there, my parents are there, and there are so many people, like my sponsors at home, who helped me get here,' said Tuthill. 'It meant a lot to get it.' She will now turn her attention to September's World Championships in Tokyo and while Tuthill has not hit the automatic qualifying standard of 74.00m, she will secure a spot via her world ranking, currently sitting 22nd in the quota with 36 places available. Elsewhere, Laura Nicholson finished eighth in the women's 1500m final, clocking 4:22.32, while Ava O'Connor came home ninth in the 3000m steeplechase in 9:51.07. Oisín Lane finished 11th in the 20km race walk, clocking a personal best of 1:23.06.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Silver for Nicola Tuthill at World University Games
Nicola Tuthill has won a silver medal for Ireland at the World University Games in Bochum, Germany, the Cork thrower finishing runner-up in the women's hammer on Sunday afternoon with a best of 69.98m. It's the second major medal in 10 days for the 21-year-old UCD student, who also won silver at the European U-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway. The final was dominated by China's Zhao Jie, who threw 72.80m to take gold, while Tuthill was over two metres clear of the bronze medallist, Sara Killinen of Finland (67.80m). 'I'm delighted, it's my first medal on a world stage and to come off silver last week and get another one here is pretty special,' said Tuthill, who had struggled early in the final, with two throws of 66 metres and a foul. 'It was a really stressful competition, to be honest. My first throws were some of the worst I had all year. Other than qualifying, my last five competitions have all been over 70 metres so it was bugging me a bit that I wasn't getting up there.' However, Tuthill improved her best mark in each of the three rounds that followed, throwing 67.80m, 68.46 and finishing with 69.98m. Her Irish U-23 record is the 71.71m she threw in Finland last month. Coupled with Kate O'Connor's heptathlon gold, it rounds out another strong championships for the Irish, with Tuthill the first field eventer to win a medal at the event since Eileen O'Keefe in 2007, who also won silver in the hammer. 'There's a lot of hours spent training and my coach Killian [Barry] was there, my parents are there, and there are so many people, like my sponsors at home, who helped me get here,' said Tuthill. 'It meant a lot to get it.' She will now turn her attention to September's World Championships in Tokyo and while Tuthill has not hit the automatic qualifying standard of 74.00m, she will secure a spot via her world ranking, currently sitting 22nd in the quota with 36 places available. Elsewhere, Laura Nicholson finished eighth in the women's 1500m final, clocking 4:22.32, while Ava O'Connor came home ninth in the 3000m steeplechase in 9:51.07. Oisín Lane finished 11th in the 20km race walk, clocking a personal best of 1:23.06.
Irish Examiner
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Nick Griggs wins Ireland's third medal at European U-23 Championships
Nick Griggs has won a third medal for Ireland at the European U-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway, the 20-year-old Tyrone athlete claiming silver over 5000m on Saturday evening in 13:45.80. On Friday, Anika Thompson struck gold for Ireland over 10,000m and Nicola Tuthill added silver in the hammer throw. Having won silver and gold at European U-20 level in the past, Griggs was a marked man as he lined up for the 5000m final and he took the pace out from the gun, passing 3000m in 8:28. Having missed several months of training earlier in the year due to an infection in his knee, Griggs' bounced back to form in impressive fashion last month with a 3:55 mile in Belfast before lowering the Irish U-23 record to 3:52.42 in Dublin last week. In Bergen, he wanted to make it a stern test for his rivals. 'We walked out the first few hundred so I was like, 'let me just take this out,'' he said. 'I was risking losing the medal to go and get to win, but I wanted to do that.' Griggs was the fastest Irish U-20 athlete in history at 1500m, the mile, 3000m and 5000m and he currently holds all the Irish U-23 records over the same distances. While he built a short lead early in the 5000m final, his rivals were keen not to give too much leeway, with the overwhelming favourite, Dutch star Niels Laros, towing them back to catch Griggs. Laros recently ran a 3:45 mile to win at the Eugene Diamond League and with wheels like that, the gold was all but secured once he took the lead with a lap to run, winding the pace up and unleashing a 12.1-second last 100m to win in 13:44.74. Griggs utilised his vast range of gears to hold off a large chasing pack to take silver, with Will Barnicoat – who had beaten Griggs to U-23 gold at the European Cross Country last December – taking bronze with 13:46.11. 'I've got mixed feelings,' said Griggs. 'After the year I had, to come out and get silver is not bad. I've only been doing sessions for probably two months. "I'm still early in my season, and hopefully there's a lot more to come in August and September.'
Irish Examiner
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Anika Thompson strikes gold as Nicola Tuthill wins silver at European U-23 Championships
It was a dream second day for the Irish at the European U-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway on Friday, with Anika Thompson striking gold over 10,000m and Nicola Tuthill winning silver in the hammer throw. Thompson, a student at the University of Oregon, turned in a superb performance in the 25-lap event, breaking her Irish U-23 record by 23 seconds and hitting the line in 32:31.47, with Germany's Kira Weis (32:36.52) and Carolina Schafer (33:04.43) following her home. 'I'm overjoyed,' said Thompson. 'Track and field is a sport of process and hard work and every day, I gave 100% for moments like this. I'm so grateful for all my family, friends and coaches who support me. The plan was to feel it out, go by instincts. I trusted my gut and I knew I had every tactic in the bag.' Thompson played a patient game in the race, tracking Weis as the leader hit halfway in 16:16, with Thompson surging to the front with just over two laps to run. She cranked up the pace soon after and broke clear on the final lap, becoming just the second Irish gold medallist in the 28-year history of the championships after Sophie O'Sullivan in 2023. Thompson was raised in Oregon but qualifies to represent Ireland through her Cork grandparents, competing for Leevale AC in national events. The 22-year-old had finished 11th in the same race two years ago and it was a special kind of pride getting to stand atop the podium and hear Amhrán na bhFiann. 'I live in the United States but my whole family is in Ireland,' she said. 'I grew up going to Ireland every summer and it was a dream of mine to represent Ireland. So this really means a lot to me. My grandad (Dan Joe Kelleher) passed away last fall, my Granny Maria is over there from Cork and it is such an honour – I'm so grateful for her support. I grew up watching Sonia O'Sullivan, Ciara Mageean, Donie Walsh. It was always a dream of mine to represent Ireland at European Championships and hopefully others in the future.' It was the 12th Irish medal in the 15 editions of the championships to date and soon after, Tuthill earned number 13, winning silver in the hammer – the first ever medal for Ireland at this grade in a field event. The 21-year-old Cork athlete launched her leading throw of 70.90m in the fourth round, but had to settle for second behind Germany's Aileen Kuhn, who threw a PB of 72.53m. Bronze went to Valentina Savva of Cyprus with a national record of 70.22m. 'I'm delighted, second was where I was ranked and that's where I came,' said Tuthill. 'I'm always looking for a little bit more but these medals are so hard to come by so I'm delighted to get one. 'I'm not overly happy with my series of throws, I know there's more in me, but it's still another throw over 70 and in a major championship like this, where there's nerves and everything that comes with it, I'm delighted.' The UCD student became an Olympian in Paris last year and last month, she broke her own Irish U-23 record with 71.71m in Finland – behind only Eileen O'Keeffe's 73.21m on the Irish senior all-time list. She will be back in action next week at the World University Games in Germany. On Saturday, the leading Irish medal hope in Bergen is Nick Griggs, who races the 5000m final at 5.30pm Irish time. However, the Tyrone athlete will come up against Dutch star Niels Laros, who should cruise to victory having run a 3:45.94 mile to win in Eugene recently. Meanwhile, there will be strong Irish interest at the London Diamond League with Rhasidat Adeleke, Sarah Healy and Mark English all competing. Adeleke will hope to ignite her season after some sub-par outings over 400m in recent weeks, the Dubliner dropping down to 200m where the big favourite is her training partner, the Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred. Adeleke is the Irish 200m record holder via the 22.34 she ran in 2023, while her season's best is the 22.57 she ran in Florida back in April. Healy has been enjoying the best season of her career and she will have Ciara Mageean's national record of 4:14.58 in her sights when she lines up in the women's mile, where Olympic medallists Jess Hull of Australia and Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia are the favourites. English will face a red-hot field in the 800m, the Donegal man enjoying a breakthrough season at the age of 32, having dipped under 1:44 for the first time when setting the national record of 1:43.92 to win in Hengelo last month. After a 1:43.98 clocking in Paris in his last outing four weeks ago, he has put in a block of altitude training and will be eyeing another Irish record in a field that includes Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi and previous world champions Marco Arop and Donavan Brazier. Ireland will also have a team in the women's 4x100m, where the national record of 43.80, set at the 2018 Europeans in Berlin, could be under threat. London Diamond League: Live: BBC One, 1.15pm; Virgin Media Two, 2pm
