O’Connor secures heptathlon gold

By Joel Kavanagh — 16 August 2026 — 3 min read

O’Connor secures heptathlon gold

Kate O’Connor delivered a gold medal performance in the European heptathlon, marking her seventh consecutive championship medal. The Irish athlete secured the European title in Birmingham, with a strong showing that culminated in the 800m event.

Going into the final event, the 800m, O’Connor held a lead of 51 points over Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands. This advantage equated to approximately three-and-a-half seconds over the two-lap race. Although Oosterwegel won the 800m in 2:10.87, O’Connor, from Dundalk, finished third with a time of 2:11.74, which was sufficient to claim the gold medal.

O’Connor’s final score was 6,751 points. While this tally exceeded her previous national record, it will not be officially counted for record purposes due to high wind readings during the sprint and jump events. The Dutch athlete Emma Oosterwegel achieved a personal best, earning silver. Sofie Dokter also achieved a personal best.

Following her victory, O’Connor expressed her feelings, stating, “Crossing the line and then realising that you’re going to have the gold medal wrapped around your neck is just incredible, insane.” She described the achievement as a dream since childhood and a surreal experience. O’Connor also noted the demanding nature of the competition, calling it a “rollercoaster the last two days,” but believing such challenges make the medal “even sweeter.”

O’Connor celebrated her win by greeting the Irish crowd, who had gathered at the Alexander Stadium. She embraced her father and coach, Michael O’Connor, and then joined her fellow heptathlon competitors for a lap of honour, stopping to acknowledge Irish supporters.

Coscoran adds to Irish medal haul

Just over an hour after O’Connor’s gold, Andrew Coscoran secured a bronze medal in the men’s 1,500m. Coscoran made a significant surge in the final 150m of the race. Coming off the final bend in seventh position, he moved into fifth down the straight before ultimately claiming third place from Jake Hayward of Britain.

Coscoran’s bronze medal marks the first time an Irish athlete has won a medal in the men’s 1,500m at a European Championships since Eamonn Coghlan in 1978. The striker from Balbriggan described his achievement as “the dream I’ve been working so hard for this for so long.”

The 1,500m final saw Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands win gold in 3:35.70, with Sweden’s Samuel Pihlstrom taking silver in 3:36.16. Coscoran finished with a time of 3:36.24.

Other Irish performances

In other events, Jack O’Leary finished 10th in the 10,000m with a time of 28:24.89. The gold medal in this event went to Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, who set a championship record of 27:23.44.

For the first time at the same championships, Ireland qualified teams for both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay finals. The men’s quartet of Bori Akinola, Sean Aigboboh, Marcus Lawler, and Israel Olatunde finished eighth in 40.26. The women’s team, comprising Lucy-May Sleeman, Ciara Neville, Sarah Leahy, and Lauren Roy, placed seventh in 44.18.

O’Connor is now one of only five Irish women to win an individual European Championship medal, joining Sonia O’Sullivan, Ciara Mageean, Derval O’Rourke, and Rhasidat Adeleke. She is also only the fourth Irish athlete to win a European outdoor title.

Source: irishtimes.com