Anika Thompson strikes gold as Nicola Tuthill wins silver at European U-23 Championships
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
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