Another Gold for Ireland as Kate O’Connor wins heptathlon in outstanding style

Kate O’Connor has sensationally won Gold in the Heptathlon at the European Championships after a great two days in Birmingham.

The reigning World Championship silver medallist and Commonwealth gold medallist took home the Gold medal after finishing third in the 800m, with a time of 2:11.74 and an overall Irish record of 6751 points.

But it all started on Friday, as Kate O’Connor competed at her best in the English Midlands, recording a personal best in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.3 seconds. That was followed by another personal best of 1.86m in the high jump.

She then had a disappointing Friday evening session, which saw her finish 11th in the shot put, followed by 10th in the 200m. It meant she ended the day 24 points off second-place Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands and 42 off Day 1 leader Adrianna Sułek-Schubert of Poland.

She recovered in the morning session on Saturday, however, with another personal best of 6.55m in the long jump, followed by a 50.16m throw in the javelin, putting her in the lead heading into the final event, the 800m.

She just needed to make sure she didn’t finish more than 3.5 seconds behind Emma Oosterwegel and 4.9 seconds behind Sofie Dokter to tie up the gold medal. And she did just that.

She came out of the blocks firing, making sure she held her space on the inside line as she was in front. O’Connor then allowed Oosterwegel to go ahead, knowing she had that 3.5-second safety net.

The Dutch runner won with a time of 2:10.87, but Kate O’Connor was just 0.9 seconds behind at 2:11.74. This gold is the latest addition to her ever-growing collection, as she has become a superstar over the past 18 months, and if she can keep up the momentum, the 2028 LA Olympics look very exciting for the 25-year-old.

Her medal brings Ireland’s athletics tally up to three, with Mark English winning gold in the men’s 800m and Rhasidat Adeleke winning silver in the 200m. Couple that with the sensational performance in the swimming championships, and it’s been a sensational week for Irish sports.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.