Kate O'Connor has become the dominant force in Irish heptathlon event over the past number of years. She is the Irish heptathlon national record holder with 6297 points and has clinched silver at the European U-20 Championships and in the 2022 Commonwealth Games representing Northern Ireland. Aside from the heptathlon, she is also a three time Irish senior javelin throw champion.
After missing out on the Tokyo Games when injury derailed her qualification hopes, she will finally make her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. With her qualification, she becomes Ireland's first ever hepathlete to compete at the games, following in the footsteps of Margaret Murphy represented Ireland in the pentathlon at Munich games in 1972.
Early Athletic Beginnings
Originally from Dundalk, Kate's versatility in both track and field events was evident from an early age. In 2014, she competed at a high level in both the 800m and the long jump. Coached by her father Michael, she quickly built on this versatility. By 2016, she had added a wide range of field disciplines to her repertoire, winning national school titles in the long jump and javelin, and competing in the heptathlon for the first time.
Quickly establishing herself as an up and coming Irish heptathlete, she won the U-18 Dublin Combined Championships that summer and represented Ireland for the first time at the U-18 European Championships in Georgia.
Reflecting on her progression as an athlete in an interview with the UK National Lottery O’Connor remarked: “My parents realised pretty young that I was a bit of an all-rounder – it wasn’t the most normal thing to have an 800m runner at the All-Ireland champs whilst also throwing the javelin… I did loads of random events when I was young and I was good at them, and then coaches realised I could pick up things quite quickly and then slowly but surely picked up all the events in the heptathlon.”
First Commonwealth Games & European Silver
In 2017, O’Connor continued to progress rapidly, sweeping U-18 & U-19 field events in Tullamore in the summer before going to compete twice on the European stage in July, including her first appearance at the Euro U-20 Championships in Italy.
The next season, at just 17 years old, Kate was selected to represent Northern Ireland in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. O’Connor finished a respectable 8th with a score of 5695. Commenting on the experience, Kate remarked: “I will never forget standing at the high jump and my hands were trembling, there was a heartbeat being played around the stadium…It was really intense, but I took so much away from that championship”.
This experience proved pivotal as O’Connor achieved two major milestones in her career as a heptathlete at the Euro U-20 Championships in Sweden in 2019. Her superb performance at the meet saw her not only clinch silver but also set a new Irish national record for the heptathlon with a score of 6093. It was the first time any Irish athlete surpassed the 6,000 point mark in the heptathlon.
Breaking the National Record Again & 2022 Commonwealth Silver
After a season disrupted by COVID-19, Kate was on course to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, breaking her own national record in Italy with a score of 6,297 points. However, after dropping out of a meet in Tenerife due to injury, O'Connor agonisingly fell out of the top 24 rankings for the Olympic heptathlon quota, dropping to 26th place just four days before the qualification cut-off date.
However, she bounced back the following season, winning silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with an impressive score of 6,233 points. In an interview after the games, Kate confidently remarked on her medal win: “My aim coming here was to get a medal; I just didn’t know what colour, and I’ve managed to come out with a silver.”
The 2023 season saw O’Connor gain further experience on the international stage in her quest to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. She achieved a top 10 finish in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Champs in March before going to compete at the World Athletics Championships for the first time in Budapest in August, finishing 13th in the heptathlon.
Olympic Year & Paris Qualification
The 2024 season would see Kate’s quest to qualify for the Paris Olympics be filled with ups and downs. Before the season even began O’Connor suffered a major setback after rupturing ankle ligaments at the gym over Christmas time. This injury ruled her out of the indoor season and she decided not to compete at the Euros in Rome due to the layoff.
She instead opted to compete at meet in Germany in a last ditch attempt to qualify for the Olympics. Despite another injury setback in the run up to the event, Kate performed extremely well, finishing second overall with a solid tally of 6244. This performance was enough to see her rise to 22nd out of the 24 places in heptathlon quota for Paris.
After a nail-biting 10 days for the Dundalk athlete, which included securing her third senior javelin title at the Nationals in Santry, O’Connor’s qualification for Paris was finally confirmed on July 2nd. In an interview with the BBC, she described the emotion of finally qualifying: "I’ve actually achieved my life-long dream. And it’s not just my dream, it my coaches’ dream too and it’s so important to so many people”.
Conclusion
From early beginnings in Dundalk to the grandest stage of them all, Kate O’Connor's journey to Paris has been marked by national records, international success, and a perseverance in overcoming injury setbacks.
After missing out on Tokyo qualification, she refused to let history repeat itself and tenaciously overcame a series of injuries to qualify for this year’s Paris Games.
Her participation in the Paris Olympics marks a first for Ireland in the heptathlon event and will undoubtedly inspire future generations of Irish multi-discipline track and field athletes.
We wish her every success.
Image: Perri Williams