Young Sports Star of the Year Finalist: Williams 'hammering the opposition'

Thomas Williams, a member of Shercock Athletics Club which has produced many champions across a range of disciplines over the years, has shown brilliant form of late and marked himself out as a real rising star in his sport.

Among his long list of achievements over the last year were numerous Personal Bests and some stunning performances both in national and international events.

Thomas set a new Irish U18 youth record for the hammer throw with 73.27m, which beat the previous record (73.18m) which had stood since 1981. Making his achievement all the more remarkable was the fact that he was still underage for the U17 age category at the time.

At an invitational event in Dunboyne in February, he threw a new PB of 66.88 metres. This also bettered the Athletics Ireland qualification mark (66.60m) which means that Thomas has now achieved the standard for the European U18 athletics championships, which will be held in Slovakia in July. This is particularly impressive as Thomas is still young enough to qualify for this event next year. Thomas was also nominated for the Star Award for Co Cavan in the Athletics Ireland Athlete of the Year awards.

Last July, the Coláiste Dún an Rí student represented Ireland at the SIAB Schools International Track and Field which took place in Grangemouth, Scotland.

This is an international competition with two athletes from Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland competing. Thomas won gold (one of only four golds won on the day by Irish athletes) and had a best of 64:50 (new PB on the day). He won by over 5.5 meters ahead of the athlete in second place.

In 2023, he also won gold medals in the All-Ireland Track & Field Championships in Tullamore in the U16 5kg Hammer category with a distance of 72.13m.

He also picked up gold medals in the Tailteann Interprovincial Games, the NI & Ulster Outdoor Championships, the All-Ireland Schools and the St Abban's Open Sports.

At this stage in his young career, it appears that the sky is the limit for this talented athlete.