Kate O’Connor finished day of the Women’s Pentathlon at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham in third place overall.
The Dundalk St Gerard’s AC produced personal bests in the 100m hurdles and the high jump in this morning’s session.
In the opening event of the seven-event competition the Irish woman finished fourth in a time of 13.30 seconds to collect 1,080 points.
She matched her PB of 1.86m in the high jump – clearing it at the third attempt – as she added 1,050 points to her total.
In the shot put in the evening session, the recent Commonwealth Games gold medallist produced a best effort of 13.96m, before running a 23.79 personal best in the final heptathlon event, the 200m.
Heading into day two on Saturday, the Newry, Co Down-born athlete sits in third position.
He lead is currently held by Poland’s Adrianna Sulek-Schumbert on 3,968 points. Sofie Dokter from The Netherlands, who won heat 3 of the 200m this evening, is currently in the silver medal position on 3,944 points, with O’Connor in third on 3,926.
The action in the heptathlon begins again in the morning with the long jump and javelin during the morning session, with the 800m at 7.45pm Saturday evening.
“I feel fit, I feel healthy; and I’m leaving day one feeling pretty positive”
Ireland’s Kate O’Connor is in third place with three events left in the heptathlon, and following an excellent 200m race, she spoke to David Gillick #RTESport pic.twitter.com/1zou7vHMRO
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2026
“I’ve given myself a fighting chance”
Commenting on her opening day in the competition, Kate O’Connor stated:
“I’m happy with that one [the 200m], but in the shot I feel like I let myself down a little. I had a lead on certain people, and I swung the door back open, but it’s really hard to string seven perfect performances together.
“I’ve managed to put together three really strong performances and one that wasn’t quite as strong. I feel fit, I feel healthy and I’m leaving day one feeling positive and in a good position.
“I’ve given myself a fighting chance tomorrow.”
Women’s 10000m Final
Bandon AC’s Fiona Everard finished in 20th place in tonight’s final of the Women’s 10000m, finishing in a time of 33:08.60 at her first major track championship.
Leevale’s Niamh Allen, unfortunately didn’t look comfortable during the race, and was forced to retire from the race.
