Kate O’Connor overcame a knee injury to claim a silver medal for Ireland in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Saturday
Kate O’Connor battled through a knee injury to secure a silver medal for Ireland in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Saturday, setting five personal bests across the seven events.
The Dundalk competitor achieved her fourth personal best in just two days when she launched the javelin 53.06m in Saturday’s second event, following an impressive 6.22m leap in the long jump.
This performance meant she entered the final 800m event sitting in second position, and a personal best time of 2:09.56 saw her finish sixth in the race, clinching silver for the 24 year old.
She has become the first Irish individual to claim a medal in a multi-discipline event at the Championships.
O’Connor is also just the sixth Irish athlete to medal at the worlds and the first to do so in 12 years, reports the Irish Mirror.
O’Connor completed the competition with 6714 points, setting a national record, whilst America’s Anna Hall claimed gold with 6888.
Meanwhile, GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson and the USA’s Taliyah Brooks shared the bronze after both recorded 6581 points.
The Newry-born athlete started the day in second place after achieving personal bests in the 100m hurdles, high jump and 200m on Friday.
“It’s going to take a few days, a few weeks maybe for this to settle in,” O’Connor said.
“We’ve worked so hard over the last little while. I’m so proud of me and the team that are around me, none of this would happen without the team I have working with me.”
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