Kate O\u2019Connor (Dundalk St Gerard\u2019s AC) sits in third place overall at the halfway stage of the women\u2019s heptathlon following an outstanding opening day at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connor completed the first four of her seven events on Friday, producing two personal bests and an equal personal best to keep herself firmly in the hunt heading into Saturday\u2019s final three events.<\/p>\n
The Irish record holder got her campaign off to the perfect start in the 100m hurdles, clocking a superb personal best of 13.30 to collect 1,080 points. The performance improved on her previous best of 13.44 and provided the platform for an excellent opening day.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connor followed that with a hugely impressive performance in the high jump, matching her personal best of 1.86m to add another 1,054 points to her total. The 25-year-old showed her trademark composure when it mattered most, clearing 1.86m on her third and final attempt.<\/p>\n
The afternoon\u2019s shot put saw O\u2019Connor save her best for last, producing a final-round effort of 13.96m having fouled on her second attempt, before completing her opening day with a huge 23.79 PB clocking over 200m.<\/p>\n
Those four performances leave O\u2019Connor in third position overall (3926 points) heading into Saturday, when the heptathlon concludes with the long jump, javelin and 800m. The overnight lead is held by Poland\u2019s Adrianna Sulek-Schubert on 3968 points.<\/p>\n
Speaking after an excellent opening day, O\u2019Connor said: \u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019s really hard to string seven perfect performances together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve managed to put together three really strong performances and one that wasn\u2019t quite as strong. I feel fit, I feel healthy and I\u2019m leaving day one feeling positive and in a good position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve given myself a fighting chance tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) safely negotiated his opening-round assignment in the men\u2019s 1500m, clocking 3:41.86 to finish fourth in the second heat and secure automatic qualification for the final.<\/p>\n
There was heartbreak for Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers AC), whose chances of progression were ended following an unfortunate tangle of legs with approximately 600 metres remaining in the opening heat.<\/p>\n
Doyle managed to regain his feet and complete the race in 4:36.28, finishing 15th. An appeal was subsequently lodged on behalf of the Clonliffe Harriers athlete but was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Fiona Everard (Bandon AC) battled her way to a 20th-place finish in the women\u2019s 10,000m final this evening, crossing the line in 33:08.60 at her first major track championship.<\/p>\n
Niamh Allen (Leevale AC) also lined up in the final but looked in discomfort from the early stages and was ultimately forced to withdraw from the race.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s Nadia Battocletti continued her outstanding championships by claiming the European 10,000m title in 31:41.17.<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s men\u2019s 4x400m relay team produced an encouraging performance to clock a season\u2019s best 3:01.76, the third-fastest time ever recorded by an Irish team.<\/p>\n
Andrew Egan, Jack Raftery, Joe Doody and Sean Doggett combined to finish sixth in their heat and 10th overall, narrowly missing out on a place in the European final.<\/p>\n
Egan opened for Ireland with a 46.4 split before handing over to Raftery, who produced a superb 44.7 second leg. Doody followed with 45.8 before Doggett anchored the team home with an impressive 44.86 split.<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s women\u2019s 4x400m quartet of Sophie Becker, Jenna Breen, Cliodhna Mannin and Arlene Crossan clocked 3:32.70 to finish eighth in their heat which was not enough to advance.<\/p>\n
Day 5 Results Summary (Aug 14th):<\/p>\n
Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 100m Hurdles \u2013 13.30 PB (1080 points)Men\u2019s 4x400m Relay \u2013 Round One \u2013 3:01.76 SB (6th, did not advance)Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 High Jump \u2013 1.86 =PB (1054 points)Women\u2019s 4x400m Relay \u2013 Round One \u2013 3:32.70 (8th, did not advance)Cathal Doyle \u2013 Round One Heat 1 \u2013 4:36.28 (15th, did not advance)Andrew Coscoran \u2013 Round One Heat 2 \u2013 Heat 2 3:41.86 Q (4th, advances to final)Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 Shot Put \u2013 13.96m (791 points)Niamh Allen \u2013 Women\u2019s 10,000m \u2013 Final \u2013 DNFFiona Everard \u2013 Women\u2019s 10,000m \u2013 Final \u2013 33:08.60 (20th)Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 200m \u2013 23.79 PB (1001 points)<\/p>\n
USEFUL LINKS\u00a0<\/p>\n
Full Results HERE<\/a>Media Guide HERE<\/a>Where to Watch HERE<\/a>Birmingham 2026 timetable is HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Irish Athlete Schedule:<\/p>\n Day Six \u2013 Morning Session \u2013 Saturday August 15th<\/p>\n David Kenny \u2013 Half Marathon Race Walk \u2013 Final \u2013 07:30Oisin Lane \u2013 Half Marathon Race Walk \u2013 Final \u2013 07:30Oisin Lane \u2013 Marathon Race Walk \u2013 Final \u2013 07:30Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 Long Jump \u2013 Group A & Group B \u2013 10:25Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 Javelin Throw \u2013 Group A & Group B \u2013 11:55Sarah Healy \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Round One \u2013 12:15Sophie O\u2019Sullivan \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Round One \u2013 12:15Jodie McCann \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Round One \u2013 12:15Women\u2019s 4x100m Relay \u2013 Round One \u2013 12:40Men\u2019s 4x100m Relay \u2013 Round One \u2013 13:00<\/p>\n Day Six \u2013 Evening Session \u2013 Saturday August 15th<\/p>\n Kate O\u2019Connor \u2013 Women\u2019s Heptathlon \u2013 800m \u2013 19:45Jack O\u2019Leary \u2013 Men\u2019s 10,000m \u2013 Final \u2013 20:25Andrew Coscoran \u2013 Men\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Final \u2013 21:07 *Men\u2019s 4x100m Relay \u2013 Final \u2013 21:33 *Women\u2019s 4x100m Relay \u2013 Final \u2013 21:48 *<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Day Seven \u2013 Morning Session \u2013 Sunday August 16th<\/p>\n Fionnuala McCormack \u2013 Women\u2019s Marathon \u2013 Final \u2013 07:30Paul O\u2019Donnell \u2013 Men\u2019s Marathon \u2013 Final \u2013 08:10Ryan Creech \u2013 Men\u2019s Marathon \u2013 Final \u2013 08:10David McGlynn \u2013 Men\u2019s Marathon \u2013 Final \u2013 08:10<\/p>\n Day Seven \u2013 Evening Session \u2013 Sunday August 16th<\/p>\n Sarah Healy \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Final \u2013 21:13 *Sophie O\u2019Sullivan \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Final \u2013 21:13 *Jodie McCann \u2013 Women\u2019s 1500m \u2013 Final \u2013 21:13 *<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n *Subject to advancing<\/p>\n ENDS<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kate O\u2019Connor (Dundalk St Gerard\u2019s AC) sits in third place overall at the halfway stage of the women\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-593503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}