O'Connor targets biggest titles after European gold

ByNigel Ringland

BBC Sport NI senior journalist

Kate O'Connor celebrated winning heptathlon gold for Ireland at the European Championships in Birmingham with a "double burger".

That choice seemed fitting: one burger for each major championship she has won in the past three weeks following on from her success for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games.

"It was beautiful, it was stunning, I ate every single bite of it. And yeah, it was bliss," said O'Connor.

Some of those words could have been used to describe the performances this summer which have lifted the 25-year-old to legendary status in Irish athletics.

But the Newry-born athlete's thoughts are already turning to the future, including how to better the World Championship silver medal she won behind American Anna Hall into something greater at next year's event in Beijing before the 2028 Olympics.

"I've got two titles to my name now, and the next goal is to get a world title and then an Olympic title. That is ultimately the aim," she added.

"When you put in so much work in behind the scenes, why not tell people what you're aiming for and make everybody else excited?

"When you know you're capable, I think that there's no harm in saying what you're aiming for.

"But it's going to take those points here and there and everywhere. Those centimetres across all the events."

While O'Connor's ascension over the past two years has been one of the standout stories in Irish athletics, she insists she must "come on leaps and bounds" to take the most coveted titles in her discipline.

"People are going to be nipping at my toes and I think that Anna is probably still the person that is just sitting out there a little bit in front," she said.

"It's how can I get closer to her to be putting her under pressure?

"It would be class if we were all standing on the line of the hurdles at the Olympics and nobody knew what was going to happen and it was a fight from start to finish.

"Which I think it will be and I think it's really exciting that I've put myself in the mix, and I'm speaking like this and thinking these sort of things and thinking that I'm 100% going to be in the mix for a world title or an Olympic title."

While winning the Commonwealth title in Glasgow was comfortable, O'Connor had to battle her way to European gold, setting a personal best score of 6,751 points.

That tally would have claimed bronze at the last Olympics in Paris, but was only enough to win by 38 points in Birmingham on Saturday.

For O'Connor, it was a different feeling being the hunted, not the hunter.

"It was probably the most nerve-wracking competition of my whole life. My nervous system is completely fried from it. I didn't give myself a second to breathe," she added.

"There were moments where I gave myself every chance and every opportunity to win the gold medal, and there were moments where I basically buried myself into the floor with some of the performances, which were gut-wrenching at the time.

"I by far did not have a perfect competition but I still managed to come out on top and I think that this one is even more sweeter than the World Championships because of the fight that I had to put in, and nobody knew whether I had that gold medal until I crossed the line."

O'Connor will take a couple of weeks now to "chill" and "not speak about athletics" before reflecting and evaluating 2026 with dad and coach Michael, as they plan ahead for what will hopefully be an exciting couple of years.

However, in amongst all the excitement of her big wins this summer was the family sadness of the passing of her grandmother Madeleine to who she dedicated the European gold medal.

"My granny was one of my biggest supporters and, like, every medal that I would win, she was completely over the moon every single time," explained O'Connor.

"She would always make jokes that she was no longer called Madeleine. She was called Kate O'Connor's granny.

"She loved to tell literally everybody and anybody that she met. It was really tough after world indoors, whenever she got sick and my dad was split between looking after her and training me.

"It was just a really tough time for the whole family but my dad has been completely incredible.

"She was already the proudest person in the world and I think that she was watching over me over those last couple of days.

"That's why I wanted to dedicate it to her because she's been such a huge part of my life, a huge part of my dad's life and an inspiration to all of my family."