Sports29 July, 20262 min read
Kate O’Connor Wins Northern Ireland’s First Commonwealth Games Heptathlon Gold Since 1986
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Kate O’Connor won Northern Ireland's first Commonwealth Games heptathlon gold. Led after four events, maintaining lead into the final 800m.
O’Connor wins NI gold
Kate O’Connor won Northern Ireland’s first Commonwealth Games gold medal in athletics since 1986 by taking heptathlon gold at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. The Newry-born athlete finished top of the standings with 6,569 points, ahead of England’s Jade O’Dowda on 6,278 points and Australia’s Tori West on 6,104 points. O’Connor sealed the triumph by winning the 800m in 2:10.45, after leading the multi-events leaderboard following the opening events on Tuesday.
The BBC said O’Connor became NI’s 12th medal winner in Glasgow and that it was her first senior outdoor gold and her first gold at her third Games, after finishing eighth in 2018 and claiming silver in 2022. RTE.ie described her final-day run as a “clean sweep on the final day of events,” with wins in the long jump and javelin before the 800m finale.
Rivals, teammates, and times
O’Connor’s route to gold included a 100m hurdles time of 13.54 seconds and a season’s best high jump of 1.82m, before a rain-soaked shot put where she threw just 12.85. The BBC said she was “gutted” with that shot put performance, but she rallied to run the 200m in 24.14 and then extended her lead on Wednesday morning with a long jump of 1.82m and a javelin throw of 52.85m. In the 800m, RTE.ie reported that she could have finished 18 seconds behind second-placed Jade O’Dowda and still won gold, but instead she ran 2:10.45 to cross the line ahead of Northern Ireland teammate Anna McCauley.
RTE.ie also said O’Dowda finished seventh in the 800m and still held silver, while the bronze went to Australia’s Tori West. The Journal reported that O’Connor finished first in the 800m with a time of 2:10.44 to seal her triumph, and it listed O’Dowda on 6,278 points and Tori West on 6,104 points.
What comes next for Team NI
The BBC said O’Connor will receive her gold medal on Thursday at 18:30 BST, after becoming NI’s first athletics heptathlon champion at the Games in eight years. Belfast News Letter framed the result as part of a wider Commonwealth Games medal night for Team NI, noting that Ellie McCartney won bronze in the women’s 200m breaststroke final and Daniel Wiffen won silver in the men’s 1500 freestyle final. It also reported that Anna McCauley was representing Team NI in the women’s heptathlon and that she posted a Personal Best of 6.23m to open Wednesday’s long jump.
Belfast News Letter added that the confirmed Team NI medal tally heading into Wednesday’s schedule included four thanks to Barry McClements (silver, para swimming), Bethany Firth (bronze, para swimming), Gary Kelly (bronze, bowls) and Shauna O’Neill/Chloe Wilson (bronze, bowls). In the heptathlon context, the BBC said O’Connor’s gold came after the late withdrawal of England’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who had beaten her to gold in 2022.