<h2>European Throwing Cup</h2>
<p>The event which took place for the first time in 2001 under its initial alias of the European Throwing Winter Challenge traditionally marks the beginning of the outdoor season for European throwers.&nbsp;</p>
<p>At the 2024 European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Ukraine topped the medal table for the second edition in succession courtesy of gold medals from Mykhailo Kokhan and Artur Felfner in the hammer and javelin respectively.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The 16 gold medals were evenly distributed between 13 nations with Katrine Koch Jacobsen creating history for Denmark by winning her country's first ever gold medal in the European Throwing Cup in the hammer, defeating a field which included all three medallists from the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And fittingly, the last senior gold medal went in the direction of the hosts. Irina Rodrigues, who is also a qualified doctor and juggles her profession alongside her athletics career, launched the discus out to a world lead and Portuguese record of 66.60m for an emotional and popular victory. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rodrigues defeated a strong line-up which includes Germany's Shanice Craft and France's 44-year-old Melina Robert-Michon who threw 62.46m in the sixth round to take the bronze medal, her eleventh medal in the history of the European Throwing Cup.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The next three editions of the European Throwing Cup will be held in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The 2025 edition takes place on 15-16 March.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Results

News

Information

Past Editions

Next Editions

Final Result Book

Placing Table

Athlete Biographies

Start Lists

Final Entries

Media Guide

Timetable (1 March 2024)

European Throwing Cup

Team Manual

Competition Regulations

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Leiria 2024 | Day two highlights

Leiria 2024 | Day one highlights 

Day two replay (part two) | Leiria 2023

Day two replay (part one) | Leiria 2023

Day one replay | Leiria 2023

Dongmo's big shot in Leiria | Leiria 2022

Ukrainian resilience in Leiria | Leiria 2022

Vetter goes big in Split | Split 2021

Andrejczyk amazes with 71.40m | Split 2021

<p><strong>Extreme weather events are becoming an increasingly frequent phenomenon around the world. Cyclones, flooding, heatwaves, and landslides have resulted in all-too-common media reports, with uncomfortable images of human and ecological devastation.</strong></p>
<p>In recent years we have seen catastrophic wildfires in the United States and Canada, heatwaves in India and Pakistan, freezing temperatures in Afghanistan and mild European winters, complete with record-breaking highs in rainfall. In Europe, we are experiencing the warmest and wettest months on record.</p>
<p>Science confirms that human activity, in particular the release of CO2 emissions is causing climate change. It is impacting our day to day lives, and of course, sport too is affected. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Athletics, as a predominantly outdoor sport, is already suffering. Strategic planning is required by event organisers to accommodate unpredictable, and potentially unsafe conditions.</p>
<h2>Extreme heat</h2>
<p>Extreme heat in Budapest last summer forced organisers of the World Athletics Championships to alter event schedules, in attempt to avoid midday and afternoon temperatures, in excess of 30 degrees.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The sport is increasingly mindful of the wellbeing of athletes, particularly in endurance runners, competing in extreme heat.</p>
<p>This month&rsquo;s European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal was seriously impacted by heavy rainfall which massively disrupted the competition.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1710843930/7121ccb5-48f4-40df-81f8-9d78bbabc368.jpg"></p>
<p>Antonio Carvalho is the Local Organising Committee&rsquo;s Event Coordinator and Media Manager. He said: &ldquo;We've had the European Throwing Cup in Leiria for the last three years, and it's always been sunny the week before, sort of sunny and mild the week after, but on the weekend of the event, it always rains on Saturday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;So, that's what we expected - a little bit wet on Saturday&hellip; and on Sunday, usually the sun comes out.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Severe weather</h2>
<p>Carvalho and his team had been checking forecasts constantly to prepare, but he explains the event experienced far worse weather than expected.</p>
<p>&lsquo;It was a severe weather event, very unpredictable. You could have sunshine one minute and heavy rainfall, with thunderstorms, and lightning the next minute. There were gusts of wind like I've never felt before.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;All the tents in the National Throwing Centre were shaking. We saw the podium almost flying away. It was a very quick weather event - almost like a mini hurricane took place.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We saw something that is very unusual for Portugal in March. You might have weather like that in the peak of winter, one or two days where you wouldn't go out.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Resilience and flexibility</h2>
<p>The European Throwing Cup was contested by over 300 athletes, representing a total of 41 nations. Carvalho explains the athletes, having travelled to Portugal, were anxious to compete. He explains:&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;They were ready, they were all hyped up, they had their warm‑up done. &nbsp;But for throwers, it's risky because of the very slippery surfaces and all the rotation, which obviously increases the risk.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Flooded throwing circles had to be drained of water with machinery, and also human effort to manually take water from the circles with buckets. Organisers had to dig additional drainage routes for the rainwater to reach a nearby stream.</p>
<p>The National Throwing Centre, where the hammer and most discus events took place, is built on a flood plain, meaning most of the flooding in and around the cage, was caused by the sudden increase in underground water levels.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1710844028/ETC2024_Flags_windy_Credit_-_Nuno_Urbano_for_Leiria_Desporto.jpg"></p>
<p>It was impossible to continue as planned, and competition venues had to be changed. The men&rsquo;s discus moved to the Municipal Stadium of Leiria, a purpose-built infrastructure which offered more sheltered areas for athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Resilience and flexibility were required on the part of the organisers, but Carvalho is keen to also praise the athletes for their cooperation and spirit in the challenging circumstances.</p>
<p>One of the first to arrive at the National Throwing Centre was 21-year-old Muhamet Ramadani from Kosovo. The former European U20 Champion started cleaning the shot put circle on his own initiative. He went on to claim the gold medal in the U23 men&rsquo;s event with 18.54m.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There were some great overall results, says Carvalho. &ldquo;There was a European lead in the men's discus, and there were also some national records. I think athletes are very resilient by nature and they were there to compete and to impress, as this is an Olympic year.&rdquo;</p>
<p>However, pressures on the organisers were enormous. They battled extreme weather conditions in attempt to allow the athletes to perform at their best, alongside the greater challenge of keeping everyone safe.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our priority was athletes' safety, and providing them with the best conditions to perform, but they were so eager to compete, says Carvalho. &ldquo;They just wanted to get it done and dusted!</p>
<h2>Athlete safety</h2>
<p>&ldquo;We only allowed them to go back out when we thought it was safe for all. And still we were doubting ourselves all the time&hellip; just in case something might happen. It is an Olympic year, and no one wants to get injured! At the end of the day, it was our call to let them go out - when it was safe.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Finding solutions was imperative, and rescheduling some events had to be taken into consideration, however, as Carvalho explains, the impact would have been far-reaching.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Rescheduling an event would have had an impact, not only on transportation, accommodation, and catering, but also on those flying back to their country the day after.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Some of the athletes would have been impacted very seriously. Imagine coming all the way to Portugal and then not being able to compete because we might have to move the event to the next day.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Good performances</h2>
<p>The event realised the ambition of good performances in a safe environment, the outstanding example being Portugal's Irina Rodrigues setting a world lead and national record of 66.60m in the women's discus.</p>
<p>Carvalho offers practical advice on how this can be achieved in this increasingly unpredictable world of weather.</p>
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<p>&ldquo;Definitely have a risk assessment! It's a no-brainer having a risk assessment and having the equipment in place. Your staff also need to be trained, and ready to act when needed.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s risk assessment preparedness - having everyone informed, what are the steps to take? It takes strong leadership, including a strong team of middle managers to then work with volunteers.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Training here is vital - training and informing people what are the risks, and what are the measures that we're going to put in place should scenario A, B or C occur. I think that's very important.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Communication is key, as clich&eacute; as it sounds. Having someone, or a small group of people who can give directions to everyone else, because people will react differently! Bear in mind that you are working with volunteers, who don't have that responsibility of making such strong decisions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We were organised to create a last-minute Crisis Management Team on site, which included technical delegates, LOC coordinator, LOC president, and the European Athletics project leader.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We were the ones making decisions, everyone else just acted according to our directions. We were working with a group of people who were very experienced, very knowledgeable, used to thinking on their feet.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;As I explained, the first thing I had to do as event coordinator, was to ask my team to look at the flights for each athlete competing, what time were they leaving the next day, would they be impacted?</p>
<p>&ldquo;It requires being proactive, and it requires having all your information ready for you to access easily so you can implement in any situation. Lots of planning and organisation.</p>
<p>&ldquo;You have a very short period of time to make a decision and that decision needs to be the best one for the athletes; not for the host city, not for the organisers not for anything else. Whatever decision you make is always based on what it's best for the athletes.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Partnership approach</h2>
<p>In a more global sense, when addressing climate change, Carvalho advises fostering strong relationships with host cities.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think the first point for organisers to get started is setting up good partnerships with the host cities. Here in Europe, most of the councils, most of the host cities, already have a sustainability programme in place.</p>
<p>&ldquo;For example, using public transportation for an event rather than having buses or dedicated cars - that's a step forward because not only you are reducing CO2 emissions, but you're also promoting healthy lifestyles.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;You want more people to walk from one place to another, you want more people to use public transport, you want less people to use cars, especially in places where there is a good public transport network. &ldquo;</p>
<p>Carvalho also believes our elite athletes have a valuable role to play, as champions of climate action and behaviour change.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think we need to use our athletes as the voice, as the ambassador in this fight for a more sustainable world, because they are impactful in so many ways - not just in the sense of practising sport, but in terms of lifestyle and how resilient some of them are and the challenges they overcome.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think a lot of people resonate with athletes, even people that don't practise sport. I think we have an opportunity here that is very special.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Sport is a catalyst for societal change, and I think we need to jump on board with what the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is already doing, what World Athletics is already doing. European Athletics is also investing in it.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think we've got the means to do something about it. We just need to stop talking about it and actually start doing something about it.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Rhona McLeod for European Athletics</strong></p>
<p><strong>Main photo courtesy of Luis Barreto</strong></p>

Climate action in action at European Throwing Cup

<p><strong>2024 is a big year for any athlete with championship ambitions and for Italy&rsquo;s Zane Weir it comes with added motivation.</strong></p>
<p>As well as the Olympic Games in August, the shot put contender is eagerly looking towards the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships this summer, a rare opportunity for any athlete at the peak of their powers to compete in a major championship on home soil.</p>
<h2>Historic venue</h2>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited to be able to compete in Rome, in front of the Italian fans in one of the most historic venues in the world,&rdquo; said the reigning European indoor champion. &nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really important from a motivational perspective, but also really exciting from a perspective of competing with the best in Europe in front of the best fans in the world.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Tickets are on sale now and can be bought for as little as &euro;5 for the morning sessions. Individual session and multi-day session tickets remain available to purchase.</p>
<p>All tickets can be purchased&nbsp;<a href="https://roma2024.vivaticket.it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
<h2>Winning form</h2>
<p>Weir has started the year in fine form, he placed a solid fourth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow just over a week ago with 21.85m although it left him 11cm short of the bronze won by training partner and teammate Leonardo Fabbri.&nbsp;<br><br>On Sunday, in his first foray of the season outdoors, he triumphed at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria for the second time, adding to his victory in 2022 at the same Portuguese venue when he set the current Cup record of 21.99m in decidely more favourable conditions.</p>
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<p>Now, his eyes are firmly fixed on the Italian capital in a venue where he last competed back in 2020, where he was seventh in the Golden Gala Meeting.</p>
<h2>"Magnitude of the stadium"</h2>
<p>&ldquo;I have only competed there once (Stadio Olimpico) and it was in my first year of high level professional sport,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So, the performance didn&rsquo;t go well. Unfortunately it was during COVID, so we didn&rsquo;t have a lot of support &ndash; but to feel the magnitude of that stadium was special.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a beautiful circle and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to be able to step it up a level, going back there this time. I&rsquo;ve only been living in Italy for the last three-and-a-bit years but getting to know the people and the culture, its super sentimental for me to be able to compete in the city that has given me so much support.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a very special occasion and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to doing it with my training partner Leo (Fabbri). I feel very lucky to be a part of this whole set up and to be doing it with him is very special. I&rsquo;m hoping that special energy is going to give me the ability to be able to deliver a beautiful performance.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Weir gets ready for Rome

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Today (9) marks the one month to go countdown to the 2024 European Throwing Cup which takes place in Leiria, Portugal for the third year in a row on 9-10 March.</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Both days of the European Throwing Cup will be streamed live on the European Athletics YouTube channel and will be accompanied by expert English-language commentary. There will also be extensive coverage of the event on the European Athletics website and social media channels.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Now in its 23rd edition, the European Throwing Cup typically serves as the first international competition of the season for Europe&rsquo;s long throwers while many shot putters often seek success in this competition after competing throughout the indoor season.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">World leads and home victories highlight the 2023 edition</h2>
<p dir="ltr">As well as individual medals and a team competition as well, the European Throwing Cup will also provide athletes with an early opportunity to seal the automatically qualifying distances for the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships as well as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Three world leading marks were set in last year&rsquo;s competition. Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Ceh won back-to-back titles in the discus - and looks likely to challenge for a third European Throwing Cup title next month&nbsp; - with 68.30m while Germany's Shanice Craft followed suit with 64.88m in the women's discus.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1707319216/GettyImages-1318865884.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">Italy's European bronze medallist Sara Fantini also reached an early season world leading mark of 73.26m for victory in the women's hammer.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There were also two home victories in the senior events. Despite the absence of Auriol Dongmo - who could miss the entirety of the 2024 season after breaking her leg in training - there was still Portuguese success in the shot put with Jessica Inchude taking the victory with 18.14m.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And Leandro Ramos, who has become something of a social media superstar for videos of his trademark somersault upon launching the javelin, duly won the javelin title with 78.57m.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Success for Europe&rsquo;s superpowers and smaller nations</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Ukraine topped the medal table last year with four gold medals which included an emotional victory for European indoor bronze medallist Roman Kokoshko.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Now based in Portugal, Kokoshko won the shot put with 21.52m to defeat a field which included the recently crowned European indoor champion Zane Weir from Italy.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1687544348/Getty%20Easy%20Access/1471010580.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">Mykhaylo Kokhan and Artur Felfner took victories in the men&rsquo;s U23 hammer and javelin respectively while Valeriya Ivanenko made it a Ukrainian double with victory in the women&rsquo;s U23 hammer.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There was also success for some of Europe&rsquo;s smaller throwing nations in Leiria last year.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">European U20 champion Muhamet Ramadani became the first athlete from Kosovo to take a victory at the European Throwing Cup, winning the U23 shot put with 19.28m and Nicola Tuthill became the first Irish athlete to win a medal with silver in the U23 hammer with an Irish U23 record of 64.44m.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In total, 24 participating nations came away with medals from the 2023 edition of the European Throwing Cup.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The final entries for this year's European Throwing Cup will be published in the week starting 26 February.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Steven Mills for European Athletics</strong></p>

One month to go to the 2024 European Throwing Cup

<p><strong>Between training, <a href="https://www.european-athletics.com/historical-data/athletes/ger/steven-richter-014828356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steven Richter</a> is never more content than with a fishing rod in hand, scouring the sea for his latest catch. But it&rsquo;s in the discus circle where he is already starting to reel in some of the big fish of the event.</strong></p>
<p>Still only 19, he had a significant breakthrough at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal, winning the U23 competition with a new personal best of 64.23m. It was a mark that would also have been good enough for second place in the senior men&rsquo;s competition behind only the Slovenian world champion Kristjan Ceh&rsquo;s world-leading 68.30m.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As a European U20 finalist in both the shot put and discus in 2021 when he was still only 18, Richter has already demonstrated his rich potential across the disciplines. But his discus performance in Leiria proved his continued development and was an improvement of more than three metres on his best from last year with the senior implement (61.13m).</p>
<p>He was thrilled with the progress: &ldquo;In training I have thrown this distance a few times, so I am very happy that I threw this in a competition also.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img src="https://european-athletics.directus.app/assets/4d3e9221-4fda-450a-9b53-95c4c5a119a3?key=q75maxwidth1200" alt="Steven Richter" /></p>
<h2>Eyes on Espoo and beyond</h2>
<p>Now guided by Sven Lang, coach to twice world and three-time European shot put gold medallist David Storl, he is based at the Chemnitz University of Technology where he is studying economics. &nbsp;</p>
<p>His main priority for 2023 is the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland, on July 13-16, but he also has a cautious eye on the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.&nbsp;</p>
<p>When asked of his targets this year, he said: &ldquo;The European Athletics U23 Championships and maybe get close to the norm for the men&rsquo;s World Championships and maybe qualify?&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The domestic standard in Germany is remarkable, with world U20 gold and silver medallists Marius Karges and Mika Sosna also vying for honours at U23 level and beyond, this year. Sosna has already extended his personal best to 65.57m this winter, before a disappointing 58.88m in Leiria, which placed him 11th.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Richter concurs, he said: &ldquo;We have very good throwers in Germany and so I am a little bit higher on the ladder now of the German throwing team.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>A sharpening focus on the discus</h2>
<p>As a child, Richter was a keen footballer, before concentrating on athletics. He said: &ldquo;In my younger years I played football, but I wasn&rsquo;t good enough to make it further. I played goalkeeper. After that, I joined the sports school in Germany doing athletics and then I joined throwing.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And with his focus now tightening on the discus, his improvement is accelerating. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;In the last three years I was doing a lot of shot put, but this year we have switched and are doing more discus,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was doing discus and shot put at the same time, maybe shot put a little more. But the discus is a little bit better now, so we decided to switch to discus throw.&rdquo;</p>
<p>To relax away from the intensity of throws training, he enjoys the contrasting tranquillity of fishing. &ldquo;When I have time, I go to the Baltic Sea and in training camps, after the training, I like to fish a little bit. &nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I fish for catfish or eels. I caught an 80cm eel once. It was a very strong fish, but we got it!&rdquo; And with a similar approach in the discus circle, he is hoping to net more success and not let the big ones get away in 2023.</p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Richter hopes to reel in the competition ahead of Espoo and Budapest

<p><strong>Nicola Tuthill became the first Irish athlete ever to win a medal at the European Throwing Cup, when she took silver in the women&rsquo;s U23 hammer competition in Leiria, Portugal at the weekend.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was a courageous performance from the 19-year-old, returning to the same competition and venue where she was stretchered away from 12 months earlier with an injury in the hammer cage.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;I am delighted with it,&rdquo; she said afterwards. &ldquo;I had a tricky run in here last year, I got my leg caught and fell and dislocated and fractured my elbow. So definitely a better result this year. So, to get out this year and throw a good distance, I can&rsquo;t really complain. It&rsquo;s nice to bring something home for Ireland.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Asked whether she was still carrying psychological scars from last year, she dismissed the notion. &ldquo;It could have happened anywhere last year, so I wasn&rsquo;t too nervous of it.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her brilliant second round throw of 64.44m in Sunday's competition (12) was underscored with a 64.02m in the fifth round and, were it not for a final round effort of 65.51m by Ukraine&rsquo;s former European U18 and U20 Champion Valeriya Ivanenko-Kyrylina, Tuthill could have been celebrating gold.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, it still puts the Irish athlete firmly in the frame as a contender at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland from 13-16 July. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first year as an U23, so that will be a nice one to get out to in Finland and see what I can do. Hopefully get another few PBs and build on the distance a bit,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/Cps3C9ZM2vB"]</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Growing up on a dairy farm in Cork, she first discovered her taste for the throws by attending an athletics camp hosted by local club Bandon AC. Her commitment to her new vocation was secured when her parents created a training area on the farm dedicated to her sport.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;My dad built a cage for me to train in on the farm. Every day I am down there, my mum comes down there to watch me training and tell me what I am doing wrong - keeping me on my toes,&rdquo; she smiles.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Progression has been swift and since representing Ireland at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia aged 17, she reached the final at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia placing eighth.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her upward trajectory has continued in 2023. &ldquo;Training has been going very well. Plenty of throwing, plenty of gym. I&rsquo;m getting a bit stronger and I am in college now in University College Dublin. It&rsquo;s a bit of a change, but I am happy there. Everything seems to have come on a bit.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She has built a team of coaches to support her technically and in strength and conditioning in the form of Killian Barry, Kevin Warner and Roland Korom. Her meticulous approach is also extended to her academic life where she is studying Biological, Biomedical, Biomolecular Science in Dublin.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With her attention to detail aligned with her talent and commitment, Tuthill is primed to go a long way, just like the hammer, which she is launching ever farther.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Tuthill puts Ireland on the throwing map with historic hammer silver in Leiria

<p><strong>Freshly minted European indoor shot put gold medallist Zane Weir has delayed celebrating his success in Istanbul as he hones in on this weekend&rsquo;s European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal on 11-12 March.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking at the official press conference on Friday (10), the Italian said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve remained pretty focussed on this competition, I take it very seriously. I&rsquo;ve delayed [celebrating] a little bit, but I am sure Sunday evening will hopefully be an opportunity to celebrate both competitions.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last weekend he set a national record on his way to winning gold with 22.06m. This same competition last year also saw Weir in record-setting form with a championship best of 21.99m, so he is looking for another rewarding weekend.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;This competition is a celebration of all of the hard work we have done to this point. It&rsquo;s been a difficult period. I came back from a finger injury last year. So, this season has been tough, but very rewarding.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;It was a great atmosphere at my first competition here last year. So, we are going to have some fun and I&rsquo;m looking forward to the atmosphere the competition provides.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also believes the move back outdoors could unlock a little more distance before he closes his winter season.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;There is a slight difference between the (shot put) circles of outdoor and indoor. But I actually prefer the outdoor circles, so I am really looking forward to being out there on Sunday.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot more grip. You can be a lot more confident in the movement, you don&rsquo;t have to hold back a little bit and I think that definitely favours the distance of throws.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tzengko tempering expectations ahead of her international debut&nbsp;</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In contrast to the busy indoor schedule faced by Weir, Greek javelin star Elina Tzengko is tentatively stepping back into competition in the midst of intense training. She enjoyed a phenomenal 2022, when she became the youngest ever winner of a European javelin title last year aged 19.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now 20, expectation has risen on her and European silver medallist Adriana Vilago&scaron; of Serbia, who is still only 19. Sitting alongside Weir, Tzengko was keen not to place too much emphasis on the result this weekend between the two rising stars.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said: &ldquo;I think for us, for the javelin throwers, it is really early yet. If I win tomorrow, it doesn&rsquo;t mean anything for Adriana. If Adriana wins tomorrow, it doesn&rsquo;t mean anything to me. We have a lot of months yet in training. We have really important competitions in the summer, so we have to be ready for the summer competitions.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;For me and my coach, this competition is part of training. I know we are not yet ready for a 65 metre throw. Our training programme is still really heavy &ndash; a lot of throws and a lot of weights. We just came here to fix some technical issues we have and to feel again the competition atmosphere. So, I can&rsquo;t wait to throw tomorrow.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;In Greece, we have a saying that is: &lsquo;health is above all&rsquo;. So, I want for this year to be healthy, to enjoy my training and competitions without injuries and that&rsquo;s enough. In my first competition of the year, I threw 61 metres in Greece so a 61 metres throw again would be a great performance for me, for now.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The European Throwing Cup will be live streamed (Senior A events and selected other events) with English-language commentary on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/EuropeanAthletics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Athletics YouTube channel</a> from 1.05pm local time (CET -1)</span></p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Weir puts Istanbul celebrations on ice for European Throwing Cup title defence

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