Relishing once more her chance to be hunting rather than hunted, Kate O’Connor rose to the challenge of her final pentathlon event in now familiar style, this time elevating herself into the silver medal position at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
Rarely has any Irish athlete enjoyed a trajectory like this, O’Connor going better again on the global stage just 12 days after making history on the European indoor stage, further extending her remarkable series of firsts in the process.
The first medal for Ireland at these championships in 19 years, the 24-year-old from Dundalk made absolutely sure of it. After staying in contention throughout the day, O’Connor finished up with an outright third-place finish in the last of the five events, the 800m.
[ The rise and rise of Kate O'ConnorOpens in new window ]
Coming as it does so soon and yet some 5,300 miles apart from her bronze medal at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn – that being the first senior medal won by any Irish athlete in a multi-event – O’Connor’s effort is even more laudable, her sheer determination unflinching despite the step up in competition.
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O’Connor had been sitting in third place before the 800m, though well within sight of Taliyah Brooks from the United States, then just three points in advance of her. In the end she finished some five seconds clear of Brooks, who had to settle for bronze.
“I kept an eye on her for 500 metres, and then I didn’t look back,” O’Connor later said of her battle with Brooks. “I just was running for the line. For the last lap and a half, I kept saying to myself: ‘How much do you want this medal?’ She wasn’t ever going to get past me; there was no way that was happening.”
O’Connor’s points tally was 4,742, just off her European Indoor tally and Irish record of 4,781, with European Indoor champion Saga Vanninen of Finland winning with 4,821. Brooks was third on 4,669.
It had been 19 years since Derval O’Rourke last won a medal for Ireland on this stage, with her gold in the 60m hurdles in Moscow in March 2006. O’Connor becomes only the third Irish woman to medal after Sonia O’Sullivan and O’Rourke.
“I think I was five when Derval won. I’d seen a few things that there hadn’t been a medal in so long, but I was just trying to do my own thing, selfishly enough zone out. But I’m chuffed hearing it’s the first one in a while.
“I was a bit more tired going into this 800m, coming off the back of Apeldoorn. And also it was a much longer day today, with a big break. You’re going from 10 in the morning and the 800m was 9.15 at night [Nanjing time]. There’s lots of things to factor in.
“Although it’s really nerve-racking on the line, it’s nice to have something to fight for in the 800m, and it makes the medal even sweeter. You always want to be at the top but right now I’m really, really happy and content with what I’ve done. I think there’s a lot more opportunity for me to get better, do better.”
O’Connor first broke through at the European Under-20 Championships in 2019, aged 18, winning the heptathlon silver medal with 6,093 points and smashing the Irish senior record in the process. She also won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in 2022, representing Northern Ireland, and last summer in Paris became Ireland’s first representative in the Olympic heptathlon, finishing 14th.
Confidence clearly soaring after Apeldoorn, she still had to focus on the new task at hand: “I’ve never had a championship so close, a competition so close. It’s then: can I produce again? You also don’t want to come in off the back of a championship and not produce so there’s lots of different pressures, but I know I’m in good shape. I tried to go out and enjoy myself as much as I could.”
Coached in Dundalk by her father Michael, O’Connor divides her time between home and Belfast, where she’s completing a master’s in Communications and Public Relations at Ulster University. Her favourite event is the javelin, meaning her trajectory outdoors in the heptathlon this summer is likely to continue.
Earlier, Sophie O’Sullivan missed out on qualification in the women’s 1,500m, finishing sixth in her heat in 4:16.68, which was still an indoor personal best, with Andrew Coscoran also falling short, third in his heat in 3:40.79.
Sarah Healy is also looking to follow up her European Indoor success, winning gold in the 3,000m, when she goes in the 3,000m on Saturday morning, in what is a straight final.
Kate O’Connor – Five steps to World Indoor silver
60 metre hurdles: O’Connor enjoyed the proverbial flying start, setting a personal best of 8.30 seconds, which was worth 1,061 points to place her third.
High jump: O’Connor cleared 1.81m, the only competitor to do so on her first attempt, to top that result outright. It was worth 991 points, and she holds on to third overall.
Shot put: Another personal best of 14.64m, on her second of three attempts. It was worth 837 points, and moved O’Connor up to second place overall.
Long jump: Two successive personal bests, 6.30m on her first attempt, then 6.32m on her second, was worth 949 points, and briefly put O’Connor in the lead, before Vanninen and Brooks improve on that.
800m: Sitting in third, O’Connor was just three points adrift of Brooks, and ended up beating her by almost five seconds. Her 2:14.19 was worth 904 points and enough to seal a historic silver with her tally of 4,742.
Saturday’s Irish in action (Irish time)
11.15am: Sarah Healy – Women’s 3000m final
11.33pm Andrew Coscoran, James Gormley – Men’s 3000m
