Dundalk will be represented at this summer’s Olympic Games after it was confirmed that local heptathlete Kate O’Connor had secured her place on the Irish team.
Kate who competes in the Heptathlon will compete at her first Olympics just a year after competing in her first senior World Championships. Kate who is coached by her father Michael has long held ambitions of competing on the biggest stages after traveling to London with her parents to watch the summer Olympics in London in 2012. She was only 11 years of age at the time but knew immediately that one day she wanted to be out there on the track performing under the brightest of lights on the biggest of stages.
O’Connor secured her spot at the Olympic Games via the points quota system and the Irish record holder will looking to match or better her excellent performance in Budapest at the Worlds last year where she finished 13th. She is also a Commonwealth Games silver medalist having represented Northern Ireland at the games in 2022.
The Belfry Gardens native is a member of St Gerard’s AC in Dundalk and former St Vincent’s Secondary School student narrowly missed out on making the Irish Olympic team in 2021 when they were held in Tokyo but since then she has worked tirelessly to ensure there wouldn’t be disappointment this time around. Kate is the Irish Heptathlon record holder with a points total of 6297 which she achieved in 2021 in Italy. She also obliterated the Irish indoor pentathlon record in Clermont last year with a score of 4,396 points which was a massive 182 points better than the previous record set by Grace McKenzie.
The 23 year old has been in very good form in recent months and finished in second place in a competitive field at the Mehrkampf meeting in Germany back in May.
The heptathlon (women) consists of three running events, two jumping events and two throwing events, all carried out over two days.
Day 1: 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m.
Day 2: long jump, javelin and 800m.