{"id":600985,"date":"2026-08-22T07:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T07:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/600985\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T07:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T07:50:16","slug":"she-is-something-else-georgie-kellys-dash-to-see-partner-kate-oconnor-win-gold-medal-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/600985\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She is something else\u2019: Georgie Kelly\u2019s dash to see partner Kate O\u2019Connor win gold medal \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Georgie Kelly is rarely distracted from his day job of scoring goals for Carlisle United<\/a> but last weekend was all sorts of unusual. <\/p>\n

The 145-mile odyssey up the M5 on Saturday evening from Yeovil Town to the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, to make his partner Kate O\u2019Connor\u2019s gold medal<\/a> ceremony at the European Athletics Championships, had him racing against the clock. <\/p>\n

Carlisle\u2019s second game of the National League season \u2013 in the fifth tier of English football \u2013 meant that Kelly was unable to join a large Irish contingent cheering O\u2019Connor through the seven heptathlon events. <\/p>\n

On Friday he watched her thrilling PBs in the 100m hurdles and high jump on television. He was in transit for her gritty third place finish in the 800m that secured gold on Saturday evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy hands would be sweating,\u201d Kelly told The Irish Times<\/a> this week. \u201cEspecially the final jump in the high jump. I knew exactly where she was at. I knew she had to get over 1.86m. It was a huge jump for her because her shot put wasn\u2019t going as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart rate, God. How she manages stress is a gift in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

We discuss O\u2019Connor\u2019s laser focus as she appeared in the background of the preceding long jumper. Stone cold, tuned to the frequency of the moment. The scream after she cleared 1.86m let everyone know something seismic had happened. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people might not notice, even in Tokyo last year [at the World Championships], there could be 50,000 in the stadium but only a few Irish dotted around. Not in Birmingham. There were thousands cheering her on. That was the first time she has experienced that. And there was new pressure on her. \u2018Oh Kate is going to medal\u2019 people were saying. There was a lot to manage. I knew she was dealing with all that.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is something else. She thrives in the pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor\u2019s competitive instincts were clearly visible in Birmingham. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know all about her competitiveness,\u201d Kelly laughed. \u201cEven day-to-day things. She hates losing. Little small things, she is very competitive. But it was great, Jesus Christ it was so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ireland’sIreland\u2019s Kate O\u2019Connor celebrates with her father and coach Michael O\u2019Connor at the women\u2019s heptathlon medal ceremony. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

There is the enduring image of O\u2019Connor on the track\u2019s edge in between events listening to the wise words of her coach and father Michael O\u2019Connor<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cMichael is a cool guy,\u201d said Kelly. \u201cBig football fan as well. He\u2019s very smart. One of the reasons for the success, I think, is they are a very high IQ family. Michael was a director in a big construction company. Her mum Valerie is very bright. <\/p>\n

\u201cKate, because of athletics, didn\u2019t get a good crack at education. But being around her, I see the intelligence. It definitely helps. The detail in every event is so complex. The timing and steps for long jump or high jump. Trying to figure out every single piece, it helps when you have a brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kate O\u2019Connor: \u2018I\u2019ve worked really hard, and I\u2019m achieving the dream. So believe, achieve, work hard\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Kelly was determined to be there for Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann as they have struggled to align their sporting careers. He missed the 2024 Olympics in Paris as July into August will always mean preseason for a professional footballer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I might be able to nip over. I got up to Glasgow [for the Commonwealth Games]. But it was nothing like the pressure and nerves last weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly did not add to the brace he scored in the loss to Worthing the previous Saturday, but the Carlisle team bus was giddy on the return leg of a gruelling 13 hour round trip after Harvey Bunker\u2019s 96th minute equaliser.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeovil was the worst possible venue to have to go to on Saturday. Aw, it\u2019s a trek, right down south. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy plan was to get to Birmingham for the medal ceremony on Saturday night. It was a surprise, I didn\u2019t tell her I was coming. The bus dropped me off on the motorway and I got a taxi. I was there in decent enough time …\u201d<\/p>\n

Turns out the ceremony was postponed until Sunday after a man was arrested<\/a> having been found with the wrong accreditation in a security-sensitive area of the Alexander stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe still had a great night. My whole family was over. All the cousins. Must have been about 20 of us and with Kate\u2019s family, there was a serious crowd. Some craic.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is their life together. Compromise, commitment and Ryanair between Manchester and Belfast with a two-hour spin to Carlisle. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the bane of our lives,\u201d he laughed again. \u201cWe try not to let it go longer than a few weeks without one of us popping over.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelfast is a wee bit easier. I can fly in. She is not able to relocate her whole team of coaches, physios, nutritionists. We just make it work. Nip over and back. I have been on more Ryanair flights than I\u2019ve ever wanted to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GeorgieGeorgie Kelly of Carlisle United challenges for the ball with Sam Hoskins of Northampton Town during the Sky Bet League One match between Northampton Town and Carlisle United at Sixfields in Northampton, England, on April 6th, 2024. Photograph: Pete Norton\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

This is their reality since 2018 when fate put Kelly in the Dundalk club digs around the corner from the O\u2019Connor family home after Stephen Kenny signed an unpolished centre forward who had scored a goal in every other game for UCD in the first division. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d see her out and about quite a lot and we went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A career in football was never part of his plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt UCD, I wasn\u2019t thinking about being a professional footballer. At Dundalk, I didn\u2019t really play. When I went to Bohs we were part-time, training in the evening. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I started the Masters [in Renewable Energy and Environmental Science<\/a>]. I was certain that my career was done. I\u2019d play a year for Bohs and go work. All my college friends were progressing, getting promotions in work. I needed to get in and get up the corporate ladder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny how it worked out. That one good year at Bohs, scored a few goals and away it went.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody has come close to 21 goals in the League of Ireland since Kelly lit up the Premier Division in 2021. A few more in Bohemians dizzying European and FAI Cup runs meant he finished his only season at Dalymount Park with 26 goals. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a great year at Bohs, Jesus. I can look back at the pictures of me, Rossy and Dawson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Tierney and Dawson Devoy followed him to England but the Dubliners have since returned home with Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson capping Devoy against Canada in June. <\/p>\n

\"Bohemians'Bohemians’ Georgie Kelly celebrates scoring a goal. Photograph: Bryan Keane\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Only 29, does he ever wonder about pulling on the green shirt? \u201cI am not the most gifted footballer. God almighty, I\u2019m really not. I\u2019m well aware of my own abilities and how limited I am. But there was a moment. At Rotherham, at the start of the Championship season, I got a few goals and a few Irish strikers were injured. I did think, \u2018If I stick at it, score a few more in the next few weeks I might not be too far away [from a call up]. I ended up doing my hamstring or calf or something. Six to eight weeks out. I look back and think, that was a chance. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it would only have been a cap,\u201d he quickly added. \u201cThere are much better players than me who were never capped. If it happened it would be amazing but I never thought I\u2019d have the career I\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s name still comes under the nose of League of Ireland managers in search of a big man up top.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a few phone calls in the summer to see what I am doing. Never concrete. I am happy to see out this contract and see where we are at Carlisle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial plan, on moving from Bohs to Rotherham was to hold his own in League One. Some ridiculous highs and lows followed. He never planned to score the goal, on his debut in April 2022, with practically his first touch, that secured promotion for his new club to the Championship. Nor did he expect a constant battle with his lower limbs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been all over the world speaking to specialists about these calves. There is a guy in Waterford called David Grey who is incredible. He more or less saved my career. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel my best years are ahead of me now. I am a late developer. Even that year at Bohs, I was 25. As a big striker, touch wood, hopefully there is some longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National League does not sound overly glamorous but he speaks about his loyalty to Carlisle. <\/p>\n

\"Bohemians’Bohemians\u2019 Georgie Kelly celebrates scoring his side\u2019s first goal with fans during the FAI Cup semi-final against Waterford at Dalymount Park, Dublin, on October 22nd, 2021. Photograph: Bryan Keane\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cI signed a long-term contract when we were in League One, bought a house here. I know, [we suffered] back-to-back relegations, but it is a massive club with fourteen, fifteen thousand at games last year. <\/p>\n

\u201cRob Elliot<\/a>, the ex-Ireland international, has come in as manager. He\u2019s a great coach who thinks deeply about the game. It has not clicked yet, but I do think we can win this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The standard is not definable by the division, as Kelly explains: \u201cThere is so much variety in the English leagues. There are leagues within leagues. The top two or three clubs in the League of Ireland would be comfortable in League One. But York, last year, won the National League and they probably would have won the League of Ireland. It is not binary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the joys of Hornchurch, Wealdstone and Scunthorpe, what\u2019s next for Kelly and O\u2019Connor? <\/p>\n

\u201cKate is coming over to the glamorous Carlisle for a few weeks as she is finished for the season. We were checking the dates today for the Olympics in Los Angeles. End of July, early August, just when we\u2019re coming back for preseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s contract is up next summer. Perhaps LA Galaxy or LAFC could introduce a 6ft 2ins former Donegal minor footballer to the MLS? <\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows? We\u2019ll figure something out.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kate O\u2019Connor gives another golden performance in front of buoyant Irish crowd in BirminghamOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgie Kelly is rarely distracted from his day job of scoring goals for Carlisle United but last weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[16640,61,60,14940,112],"class_list":["post-600985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-athletics-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kate-o-connor","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600985","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=600985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}