Kate O’Connor got her heptathlon challenge off to a good start on Friday morning.
With two events down for decision in the morning session, O’Connor set a PB in the 100m hurdles and equalled her PB in the high jump.
The Newry-born woman began by taking fourth place in a PB time of 13.30 seconds in the 100m hurdles.
Then she turned up the heat on her competitors in the high jump. Coming in to the event at 1.68m, she cleared on her first attempt at 1.68m, 1.71m, 1.74m and 1.80m.
She then went for a season’s best clearance of 1.83m, which she duly jumped, to earn 1,1016 points and move into the overall lead.
O’Connor then failed on her first two attempts at 1.86m, but with Poland’s Adrianna Sulek-Schumbert clearing the height on her first attempt, she moved ahead of O’Connor and into the heptathlon lead.
The Dundalk resident then equalled her personal best when clearing 1.86m on the third attempt, before going in search of a new PB when the bar was raised to 1.89m.
With both O’Connor and the Polish heptathlete attempting the 1.89m height, both failed on their respective three attempts to end the morning session with Sulek-Schumbert one point ahead of O’Connor.
The heptathlon shot put will begin at 5.35pm, and the 200m will be the final event of the day for O’Connor – that will be at 8.55pm.
Men’s 1500m
A fourth place finish in heat 2 of the men’s 1500m, in a time of 3:41.86, saw Andrew Coscoran qualify for the final. His team mate, Cathal Doyle, didn’t have as much luck, as he came down in the first heat, finally competing the course in 4:36.28.
Andrew Coscoran on the importance of keeping your cool as he ran a clever race to reach the 1,500m final #rtesport #EuropeanAthletics pic.twitter.com/BYuPEDNsBh
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2026
Relay Teams
In Heat 1 of the Women’s 4 x 400m Relay, the Ireland team of Sophie Becker, Jenna Breen, Clíodhna Manning and Arlene Crossan came home in eighth place in a time of 3:32.56.
The men’s 4 x 400m relay team of Andrew Egan, Jack Raftery, Joe Doody and Seán Doggett were fifth in their heat, and 10th overall, in a season’s best time of 3:01.76.
The Irish men’s 4x400m relay team reflect on the European Championships experience, saying that their season’s best effort in their heat ‘exceded their expectations’ #rtesport #EuropeanAthletics pic.twitter.com/odpO956m9B
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2026
Neither of the Irish relay teams advanced to their respective finals.
