Kate O'Connor

Katherine O'Connor (born 12 December 2000) In the summer, she took gold in the 2025 World University Games, the Universiade in heptathlon. In September 2025, O'Connor won a Heptathlon silver medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

In 2026, her run of success continued as she won a bronze medal representing Ireland in the indoor pentathlon at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships before winning the gold medal in the 2026 Commonwealth Games heptathlon, once more representing Northern Ireland, and only days later the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2026 European Athletics Championships. O'Connor was the first woman to win both these titles in the same year since Denise Lewis in 1998.

Career O'Connor has been coached since childhood by her father Michael.

O'Connor was born in Newry, County Down in Northern Ireland, but raised in the neighbouring town of Dundalk, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland , around 12 miles from her birthplace. At 17, she competed for Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, finishing eighth in the heptathlon.

She won a silver in the heptathlon at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden.

O'Connor won a silver medal competing in the heptathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, her first senior medal, behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

She qualified for the heptathlon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, finishing in 13th place.

O'Connor became the first Irish heptathlete to compete at an Olympics when she finished 14th at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

She set a new Irish indoor pentathlon record of 4,683 points at the Tallinn Combined Events meeting in Estonia in February 2025.

O'Connor won a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships after winning the 800m race, setting 4 new personal bests in the long jump, high jump, 60m hurdles and in the 800m.

She claimed a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

O'Connor won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, setting a new national record of 6,714 points in the process and registering five personal bests across the seven events.

In March 2026, O'Connor won a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in a new Irish record score of 4839 points.

She won gold representing Northern Ireland at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in heptathlon, 291 points ahead of Great Britain's Jade O'Dowda in second. 17 days later, she won gold again, this time for Ireland at the 2026 European championships in the heptathlon, edging Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel by 38 points in a new national record of 6,751 points. The win in Birmingham brought her run of successive medals in successive combined events competition to seven.

Personal life O'Connor began studying at Sheffield Hallam University in 2019 and graduated in 2022 with a degree in sport development with coaching. O'Connor completed a master's degree in Communication and Public Relations at Ulster University in 2025 and graduated in Belfast in December 2025.

Although raised in Dundalk and a member of Saint Gerard's Athletic Club, O'Connor was born in the nearby city of Newry, in County Down, Northern Ireland. She is therefore eligible by birth to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. As athletes from Northern Ireland are automatically eligible to represent either the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team, or Ireland in World Athletics events, representing Northern Ireland does not affect her eligibility to represent Ireland in other competitions.

Personal bests