A superb opening round throw from Oisín Joyce has won him a bronze medal in the javelin at the World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru, the first time any Irish athlete has made the podium in a throwing event at this level.

The 19-year-old from Ballinrobe in Co Mayo always knew he’d likely need to produce the throw of his life, and Joyce did exactly that – throwing 73.89 metres with his first attempt, extending his own Irish under-20 record by 17cm in the process.

That looked to be good enough to win him the silver medal for much of the competition, before a final round throw of 76.81m Tom Teršek from Slovenia nudged Joyce out of the silver medal position, with China’s Xiaobo Wang finishing second with his 75.50.

The cool, damp conditions in Lima certainly suited Joyce’s style of throwing, and he becomes only the fifth Irish athlete to win a medal at the World Under-20 Championships, which were first staged in 1986. Antoine Burke won silver in the men’s high jump in 1994, Ciara Mageean claimed 1,500m silver in 2010, Sommer Lecky won silver in the women’s high jump in 2018, and the women’s 4x100m relay team of Molly Scott, Ciara Neville, Gina Akpe-Moses, Patience Jumbo-Gula and Rhasidat Adeleke won silver in the same year.

Well before Joyce improved the Irish under-20 javelin record to 73.72m to win the Mannheim International meeting in Germany in June he’d already built a reputation as one of the most promising throwers in the country.

Last summer, when still only 18, he won his first Irish senior javelin title for Lake District AC, the small juvenile club in Ballinrobe, founded just over 10 years ago. He went on to finish sixth in the European Under-20 Championships.

His 73.72m broke new ground again, moving him to fourth on the Irish all-time senior list and also qualifying him for Peru, where he travelled out ranked sixth. Joyce first took up the javelin purely for fun when joining his local club, and credits his father, Pádraic, and mother, Pauline, as part of his backroom coaching team, both of whom made the trip to Lima.

Now he’s written his own little chapter into Irish athletics history, and he’s still only starting out.

Joyce’s Road to the Podium

The Ballinrobe teenager booked his place in Thursday night’s Javelin Throw final thanks to a best throw of 69.85m in the second round of the competition. He then faced an anxious two hour wait until Group B concluded while he awaited his fate. Ultimately, he ended up in ninth position, inside the top twelve, which was good enough to advance.

Ndudi’s Long Jump Final

Elizabeth Ndudi from Dundrum South Dublin AC has finished sixth in the final of the Women’s Long Jump on Day Two of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru. The 19-year-old produced her best jump of 6.18m (+1.0m/s) in the fifth round of the competition, which moved her up from seventh position to fifth at the time. While Ndudi had hoped to challenge for a medal, she can certainly take positives from making her first global championship final.

Doggett’s 400m Semifinal

Meanwhile, Sean Doggett finished seventh in his semi-final of the Men’s 400m. The 17-year-old from Galway clocked a time of 50.33 seconds in the race, which wasn’t enough to advance to the final tomorrow night. Doggett had impressed in the heats less than six hours earlier, placing second in a time of 47.31s, his second fastest run ever over the distance, to seal automatic qualification to the next round.

The Irish Team’s Performance

Ndudi overcame a back injury to finish sixth in the long jump at the World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru, just short of the bronze medal, despite being unable to train for several days beforehand. The European Under-20 champion from last year, Ndudi jumped a best of 6.18 metres, short of her Irish record of 6.68m set back in April while competing for her US college in Illinois. Australia’s Delta Amidzovski won gold with 6.58m, notably shorter than Ndudi’s best, and despite her injury woes the 19-year-old from Dublin was just 16cm short of the bronze medal in the end. Sean Doggett had earlier qualified for semi-finals of the 400 metres, the 17-year-old from Athenry AC moving from fourth to second inside the last 20m, and he later finished a tired seventh in his semi-final. Lughaidh Mallon also finished ninth in his heat of the 1500m, clocking 3:48.69. Fintan Dewhirst from Tír Chonaill AC in Donegal is out again in the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles, finishing second in his heat in 52.59, while Oisin Joyce will go in Thursday night’s session in the javelin final.

A New Chapter in Irish Athletics

It was the throw of his life, right when he needed it most, and with that Oisín Joyce of Ballinrobe did something no Irish teenager had ever done – winning a medal in a throws event at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. His Irish U-20 record of 73.89m in the men’s javelin final in Lima, Peru last night earned the 19-year-old just the fifth Irish medal in the 38-year history of these championships, with silvers by Antoine Burke in the high jump in 1994, Ciara Mageean over 1500m in 2010, Sommer Lecky in the high jump in 2018 and the women’s 4x100m team that same year. It was a cold, damp night in the Peruvian capital – very west of Ireland conditions – and the Ballinrobe teenager unleashed his medal-winning effort in the first of six rounds, a mark that left him in second for much of the competition behind China’s Wang Xiaobo (75.50m), with the final winning effort of 76.81m by Slovenia’s Tom Tersek demoting Joyce to third. “I came in with expectations of being near the medals, but I didn’t really want to tell anyone to put pressure on myself so I kept it all humble,” he said. “But I definitely had it in my sights. I knew after the first throw I’d be in the shake-up.” Joyce admitted he was “very nervous” and “bricking it” for much of the competition as he waited to see if his rivals would overtake him, but in the end he and his family – who made the trip to Peru – were left euphoric. “I don’t know what they were thinking, paying for those flights, but it was nice to have them,” he laughed. “There was good Irish support behind me; most of the team were there clapping away.” Joyce has been coached by his father Pádraic – who had no throwing background before getting involved with Lake District AC – since the age of nine, but they’ve spent much time learning from top javelin experts in recent years, including former Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen, Irish record holder Terry McHugh and British coach David Parker. After completing his Leaving Cert last year, Joyce took a year out and worked at McHugh’s Café in Ballinrobe as he prepared for this event, though his training was interrupted by a bout of appendicitis earlier in the year. Still, he announced his medal credentials with an Irish U-20 record of 73.72m in Germany in June. “That gave me the confidence coming out here,” he said. He will enrol at the University of Limerick in the weeks ahead, studying sports science, with the future now looking extremely bright. “I suppose you want to be a professional (athlete),” he said. “Next year will be the European U-23s and there’s a good few heavy hitters in that, guys who were in the Olympics. I’ll have to try kick on from this.” Joyce said he’d been inspired by the medal-winning feats at European U-18 level by fellow throwers Cian Crampton and Thomas Williams last month and also pointed to the achievements of Elizabeth Ndudi, who won European U-20 long jump gold last summer and finished sixth in the world U-20 final in Lima despite a back injury. “It’s good to see for a bit of a change,” said Joyce. “Rather than just the runners, there’s good field eventers coming through as well.”