Kate O’Connor adds European heptathlon gold to golden summer

Kate O’Connor won the European heptathlon title in Birmingham with a national-record 6,751 points. The Irish athlete began the second day in third place, 42 points behind leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, before producing the performance that extended her successful summer.

O’Connor moved closer to the lead with a personal-best 6.55 metres in the long jump. She then threw 50.16m in the javelin, leaving the gold medal within reach before the closing 800m.

The final event required O’Connor to stay close to Emma Oosterwegel. The Dutch athlete ran 2:10.87, but O’Connor’s 2:11.74 was enough to secure first place and lift her overall score to a national record.

Oosterwegel took silver after reaching a personal-best total of 6,713 points. Her Dutch team-mate Sofie Dokter completed the podium with 6,664, also recording the highest score of her career.

The victory adds European gold to O’Connor’s Commonwealth title, which she won in Glasgow on July 29. Her result in Birmingham confirmed her progress across a summer in which she collected major championship honours.

Jade O’Dowda, the Commonwealth silver medallist, finished 13th on 6,191 points. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, a two-time world champion who had dealt with injury during the year, completed the 21-athlete competition in 21st with 5,790 points.