John Kelly finishes ninth at European Throwing Cup in Portugal

John Kelly finished in 9th place at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal at the weekend.

The Finn Valley AC man – pictured with the event’s technical director Pierce O’Callaghan – was competing in the U23 shot put event.

The St Johnston native reached a best mark of 16.98 metres to finish in 9th overall in an event won by Norway’s Marcus Thomsen, who threw 19.61m, a new PB.

Kelly entered the competition ranked in 11th, but ended up in ninth, his performance described by Patsy McGonagle as ‘a steady work in progress’.