IRELAND’S KATE O’CONNOR has won a historic silver medal in the women’s heptathlon after an incredible campaign at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
O’Connor finished the 800m — the last event of the heptathlon — in seventh place to secure the silver medal and deliver Ireland’s first World Championships medal since Rob Heffernan won gold in the 50km walk in 2013.
A brilliant opening day where O’Connor earned three personal bests across four events put her in silver medal contention. She slipped back to fourth after the long jump but returned to second place overall after a fourth personal best in the javelin.
Her 800m performance completed a superb run in Tokyo, clocking a personal best 2:09.56, her fifth personal best of the series.
There were reports of a knee injury ahead of the race, with O’Connor appearing in some blue strapping during the javelin event. But she looked comfortable during the 800m, raising her hand to her mouth in shock as she crossed the line to a podium finish.
🇮🇪 🥈It's heptathlon silver for Ireland's Kate O'Connor!!! Despite nursing a knee injury, O'Connor shows incredible guts to run a PB - her fifth of championships - to make the podium! #WorldAthleticsChampspic.twitter.com/54SxsPjIyD
USA’s Anna Hall won gold with 6888 points ahead of O’Connor’s 6714. The bronze medal will be shared between Taliyah Brooks of USA and Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson who both finished on 6581.
It’s been an outstanding two days of heptathlon action for Ireland and the Dundalk multi-eventer.
O’Connor, who had achieved four personal bests in Tokyo, was in fourth position following the long jump phase. She was in the silver medal spot following yesterday’s four events, and delivered a best of 6.22m in the long jump.
🗣️ “I’m pretty happy with that. Solid is the word I would use, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too bad…I’m looking forward to this evening.”
Hear from Kate O’Connor who sits in fourth in the Women’s Heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with just two events to… pic.twitter.com/VbdWqeXVUQ
“I’m pretty with it,” O’Connor told Athletics Ireland after her long jump performance.
“Solid is the word that I would use. It wasn’t great; it wasn’t too bad. I think I had a really good first jump and I just broke slightly. But my run up was a little all over the place so to have a got a half-decent jump in, I’m pretty happy.”
O’Connor added that it was difficult to reset after a fail on her first jump.
“Definitely. The nerves go from zero to 100 because you could foul a second and then be in a bit of a pickle. It was really important to get that second jump in and get a couple of extra centimetres on the third.”
O’Connor stormed into silver medal contention yesterday with three personal bests across four events on the opening day of the heptathlon.
She started the day by setting a big PB of 13.44 seconds in the 100m hurdles, finishing in eighth place, and then followed that up with a PB of 1.86m to finish fourth in the high jump.
A throw of 14.37 metres was enough for fifth in the shot put phase which put her outright third after three of the seven events. She finished the day by running a 200m PB of 24.07 to put her in silver medal position overnight.
Triple Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam dropped out of the event, the Belgian’s agent told AFP.
Her representative Helena Van der Plaetsen confirmed she would not carry on and her coach Michael Van Der Plaetsen later told Belgian media: “It makes no sense for her to continue.”
Thiam was aiming to break Carolina Kluft’s European heptathlon record of 7,032 points in Tokyo, but almost nothing went to plan and after four events, she was only in sixth place, notably after a poor 200 metres. She has since dropped another two places in the rankings after a disappointing long jump, in which she was 11th with 5.99m.
The Ireland women’s 4x400m relay team of Sophie Becker, Cliodhna Manning, Rachel McCann and Sharlene Mawdsley were also in action today, finishing their heat in eighth place.
Ireland were without Rhasidat Adeleke and Phil Healy in the line-up but Becker ran a strong opening leg. Ireland drifted back in the changeover, as Manning took over in seventh place. McCann and Mawdsley were unable to make up the gap, crossing the line in 3:29.27.
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Kate O’Connor wins historic World Championship silver medal for Ireland in heptathlon
LAST UPDATE | 20 Sep
IRELAND’S KATE O’CONNOR has won a historic silver medal in the women’s heptathlon after an incredible campaign at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
O’Connor finished the 800m — the last event of the heptathlon — in seventh place to secure the silver medal and deliver Ireland’s first World Championships medal since Rob Heffernan won gold in the 50km walk in 2013.
A brilliant opening day where O’Connor earned three personal bests across four events put her in silver medal contention. She slipped back to fourth after the long jump but returned to second place overall after a fourth personal best in the javelin.
Her 800m performance completed a superb run in Tokyo, clocking a personal best 2:09.56, her fifth personal best of the series.
There were reports of a knee injury ahead of the race, with O’Connor appearing in some blue strapping during the javelin event. But she looked comfortable during the 800m, raising her hand to her mouth in shock as she crossed the line to a podium finish.
USA’s Anna Hall won gold with 6888 points ahead of O’Connor’s 6714. The bronze medal will be shared between Taliyah Brooks of USA and Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson who both finished on 6581.
It’s been an outstanding two days of heptathlon action for Ireland and the Dundalk multi-eventer.
O’Connor, who had achieved four personal bests in Tokyo, was in fourth position following the long jump phase. She was in the silver medal spot following yesterday’s four events, and delivered a best of 6.22m in the long jump.
“I’m pretty with it,” O’Connor told Athletics Ireland after her long jump performance.
“Solid is the word that I would use. It wasn’t great; it wasn’t too bad. I think I had a really good first jump and I just broke slightly. But my run up was a little all over the place so to have a got a half-decent jump in, I’m pretty happy.”
O’Connor added that it was difficult to reset after a fail on her first jump.
“Definitely. The nerves go from zero to 100 because you could foul a second and then be in a bit of a pickle. It was really important to get that second jump in and get a couple of extra centimetres on the third.”
O’Connor stormed into silver medal contention yesterday with three personal bests across four events on the opening day of the heptathlon.
She started the day by setting a big PB of 13.44 seconds in the 100m hurdles, finishing in eighth place, and then followed that up with a PB of 1.86m to finish fourth in the high jump.
A throw of 14.37 metres was enough for fifth in the shot put phase which put her outright third after three of the seven events. She finished the day by running a 200m PB of 24.07 to put her in silver medal position overnight.
Triple Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam dropped out of the event, the Belgian’s agent told AFP.
Her representative Helena Van der Plaetsen confirmed she would not carry on and her coach Michael Van Der Plaetsen later told Belgian media: “It makes no sense for her to continue.”
Thiam was aiming to break Carolina Kluft’s European heptathlon record of 7,032 points in Tokyo, but almost nothing went to plan and after four events, she was only in sixth place, notably after a poor 200 metres. She has since dropped another two places in the rankings after a disappointing long jump, in which she was 11th with 5.99m.
The Ireland women’s 4x400m relay team of Sophie Becker, Cliodhna Manning, Rachel McCann and Sharlene Mawdsley were also in action today, finishing their heat in eighth place.
Ireland were without Rhasidat Adeleke and Phil Healy in the line-up but Becker ran a strong opening leg. Ireland drifted back in the changeover, as Manning took over in seventh place. McCann and Mawdsley were unable to make up the gap, crossing the line in 3:29.27.
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irish pride kate o'connor steady as she goes team ireland World Athletics Championships