Special guest David Gillick blown away by the high standard of West Cork sport

WHEN David Gillick speaks about elite athletics, he does so with the authority of an Olympian. And when the former European 400m champion looked at 2025 West Cork Sports Star of the Year Nicola Tuthill, he saw more than medals and milestones. He saw belief beginning to catch up with talent.

That, for Gillick, is the most exciting part of the Kilbrittain hammer thrower’s rapid rise – and why her crowning moment at the 2025 West Cork Sports Star Awards felt like the start of something bigger rather than a destination reached.

The former Irish Olympian was the special guest at the gala event in the Celtic Ross Hotel and made a lasting impression with an entertaining and insightful address, drawing on his own athletics journey and his transition into life beyond full-time sport.

Gillick, now a familiar face as RTÉ’s lead athletics interviewer at major championships, also spoke candidly about that change in his acclaimed new book, The Race, which details the challenges of stepping away from elite competition.

Kilbrittain's Nicola Tuthill is presented with the 2025 West Cork Sports Star of the Year award by David Gillick, special guest. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

One of Ireland’s most respected athletes proved a hugely popular guest on the night, and his admiration for the depth of sporting talent in West Cork was immediately evident.

‘I’m looking at the winners list – and even some of the people who aren’t included this year, the likes of Fintan McCarthy – and you’re going, whoa, there is serious potential in this part of the country,’ Gillick told The Southern Star.

‘I think that’s what makes West Cork quite unique, the broad range of sports, as well as the number of local people operating at a high level. From individual to team sports, it is fantastic to see. The future looks really, really bright here.

‘You see that in new developments, like the Bandon AC track coming on stream. All of these things are so important for the next generation of athletes. If you can harness that, with all the success West Cork sport is now enjoying, you will create a pipeline that is robust and one that will produce future stars.’

Overall winner on the night was Irish Olympian hammer thrower Nicola Tuthill, whose meteoric rise has not gone unnoticed by Gillick. The former European champion believes the Kilbrittain native has both the character and the ability to inspire a new generation of Irish track and field athletes.

‘We haven’t had a lot of field eventers come through in the last couple of years,’ Gillick explained.

‘So, when you have a gem like Nicola Tuthill, and you see what she has done at underage level, everyone is right to get a little excited. I saw her at the 2024 European Championships in Rome – that was Nicola’s first senior championship at European level. Throws at that level are strong, but she got through.

‘When I interviewed her, she was young and I could sense she was nervous, but she struck me as someone who didn’t fully realise the talent she had or what she was capable of. Sometimes you need to compete at a championship like that to understand what you are actually capable of achieving.’

Those experiences in Rome proved crucial preparation for the biggest stage of all.

‘Nicola bounced from the European Championships to the Olympics in Paris and then, the following year, made a World Championships final,’ Gillick added.

‘Now everyone can see the potential she has. She’s beginning to believe more in herself and that’s fantastic to see.

‘The transition from junior to senior championship level is really, really difficult – the gulf is huge. That’s why I think Nicola has done so well.

‘Athletics isn’t just running – it’s field as well, it’s track and field. Every event needs its superstars and, in the field right now, we have that. We have Nicola Tuthill.’

As well as praising West Cork’s emerging and established sports stars, Gillick also paid tribute to Skibbereen Rowing Club and its unique culture.

‘I visited Skibbereen Rowing Club and straight away, when you walk in, you get a sense that there is something special there,’ he said.

‘Suddenly, you’ve got people from a local community going to the Olympic Games and winning medals, and that does amazing things for the next generation.

‘When you have rowing propelling local talent on to the international stage like that, people start asking how they’re doing it and what they’re doing so well as a club.

‘Skibbereen Rowing Club is special.’