Editor’s note: Your editor observed Kate O’Connor’s bronze medal in the European Indoors 2025 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. It was a superlative peformance, and one came to appreciate the absolute guts and focus that the multi eventer from Northern Ireland possesses. Stuart wrote this about her epic win at the Glasgow 2026 championships.
Kate O’Connor, heptathlete
Kate O’Connor’s progress in the Heptathlon is impressive. Silver medal in the 2025 World Championships. Silver in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Second and third in the World Indoors Pentathlon. Add to that gold in the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Kate is one of those athletes with a complicated nationality; she competes for Ireland in Global competitions but for Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games.
Her victory in the 2026 Commonwealth Games was with 6569 points compared to her 6714 in the Tokyo World Championships. Her individual performances were:
100 Hurdles: 13.54
High Jump: 1.82
Shot: 12.85
200m: 24:14
Long Jump: 6.37
Javelin: 52.85
800m: 2:10.45
After each day, she described the competition.
Day 1
That was a good way to finish the day.
Yeah, I’m delighted with that. I messed up that shot so badly. I just couldn’t deal with the rain, and I’ve not thrown that short in a long, long time. I threw further off the standing throw, to be honest. The more I speak about it, the more annoyed I get at myself, so I’ve just got to park that because I can’t change it. I went out, and I did myself proud in the 200m. I think I’m capable of running much faster, but in weather like that, with only 10 minutes to warm up, freezing cold conditions and lashing rain, I think I did a good job.
When you’re in conditions like that, how does it affect your shot? Is it the grip? Is it
everything about your feet?
It’s trying to stay dry. It’s trying not to get cold. Every time I dried the shot and then put chalk on it, I’d go out, and the rain would make the chalk slippier. That was just a nightmare. The whole thing was a nightmare, and I just wasn’t thinking about my cues. I was thinking more about keeping dry, and it was all a bit of a mess. I think we’ll definitely reflect on it and make sure I’m prepared for that kind of weather in the future, because I didn’t know how to navigate that. That’s a fault on my behalf, so we’ll work on that. Every day’s a learning day, and today I learned a big lesson.
Given those challenges, are you happy with where you are at this stage?
Yes. Coming here was a chance for me to shake off the rust. I know I competed indoors, but I haven’t competed since March. I think what I did today was throw the gauntlet down. We’ll see how the girls run in the 200m, and I’ll come back tomorrow, put in a big day and try to make it difficult for anybody else to beat me.
Day 2
You’re a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Has it actually sunk in yet?
No, not yet. It all feels a little bit surreal and a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest. I waited so long for a gold medal to be hung around my neck, and I worked really hard over the last two days. I’m just delighted with the outcome.
It’s been a rollercoaster over the last two days, having to deal with the events you normally compete in, but in weather you don’t usually have to deal with. How challenging have these two days been?
Yesterday was really tough. I found the whole day difficult. I suppose my expectations were very high coming in, and after day one I realized, “Hold on, you’re at a championship here.”
It’s not all about huge point scores. It’s about competing against these girls and trying to come out on top.
I came out today and enjoyed it from the start. I enjoyed the long jump as much as I possibly could; the javelin was great, and I really enjoyed the 800 meters as well. My mindset was a lot more positive today.
For those of us who will never do anything like a heptathlon, how tough is that 800 meters at the end of two grueling days?
It’s really tough, especially when you have pressure on your shoulders or a job to do. It’s extremely nerve-racking. Even standing there with the possibility of winning a gold medal, there’s a lot to carry. I almost got tripped up in the first 200 meters, and I had this split second of thinking, “Oh my goodness, could I fall over here?” Then it would all be over. It’s a tough two days beforehand, and it uses up every single ounce of energy, but I tried to enjoy the run as much as I could.
How will you celebrate this gold medal?
I’ll go back and spend some time with family and friends, then really get my head screwed on because I’ve got the European Championships coming up in a couple of weeks. So I’ll rest, recover and enjoy this as much as I can, because I know these moments don’t come around that often.
You’re going to go and do it all again in two weeks.
Exactly. Lucky me.
