O'Connor secures European gold in heptathlon
Kate O'Connor says her late grandmother "would have been jumping for joy" at the Irish athlete claims gold in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham.
Kate O' Connor secured gold in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham, Ireland. The 25-year-old from Newry entered the final event, the 800m, with a 51-point lead over nearest competitor Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands. To claim overall victory, O' Connor needed to finish within 3.4 seconds of Oosterwegel, and she achieved this, finishing 2:11.74 to Oosterwegel's 2:10.87.
This victory gave O' Connor a national record of 6,751 points, ahead of Oosterwegel with 6,713 points and Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands with 6,664 points. This success builds on O' Connor's gold at the Commonwealth Games and silver at last year's World Championships. Despite personal tragedies, including her grandmother's passing earlier in the year, O' Connor dedicated her medal to her late grandmother, who would have been thrilled.
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