Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St. Gerard’s AC) sits in the bronze medal position after three events of the Women’s Pentathlon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.
The national record holder got off to a solid start in the 60m Hurdles early this morning clocking 8.23 seconds, just 0.02 outside her personal best which was set at the National Indoor Championships recently.
She quickly moved to the High Jump, clearing a best of 1.81 metres on her final attempt, despite tripping on cable in her first run-up.
The Shot Put was the final event of the session, and the 25-year-old delivered an excellent series, opening with 14.59 metres, before throwing a 1cm PB of 14.65 metres in her second throw. She saved her best to last launching the shot out to 14.70 metres.
O’Connor currently occupies third position, behind Anna Hall (USA) who is second with 2926 points and Sofie Dokter (The Netherlands) who is first with 2942 points.
The Long Jump and 800m conclude the five-event schedule this evening.
Meanwhile, there was disappointment for Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) who finished fifth in her heat of the Women’s 60m Hurdles clocking a time of 8.08 seconds, which was not enough to progress to this evening’s semi-final.
“I’m honestly lost for words, I wish I could tell you what happened,” she said. “I know it was sloppy, I know I didn’t run fast enough – which is the bottom line, it’s a sprint. I had a very good warm-up. There’s nothing that signalled I might put out a performance like that…That was all I had today and that wasn’t good enough. I don’t know if I’ve come to a major championship and gone out in the first round ever, I’m obviously incredibly disappointed.”
Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St Gerard’s AC) has won bronze for Ireland at the World Indoor Championships in Poland this evening, setting a new national record of 4,839 points on her way to becoming the first Irishwoman to win two World Indoor medals.
O’Connor went into the final event of the day, the 800m, firmly in medal contention and delivered when it mattered most. She produced a personal best of 2:10.26 to secure bronze, finishing just 49 points behind gold medallist Sofie Dokter (NED), who scored 4,888. Anna Hall (USA) took silver with 4,860.
This result continues a remarkable run of success at major championships for O’Connor. In 2025, the Dundalk athlete claimed medals at the European Indoor Championships (bronze), World Indoor Championships (silver), World University Games (gold), and the World Outdoor Championships (silver). Only two Irish athletes, Sonia O’Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan, have now won more individual global medals at senior championships.
Speaking after her 800m this evening, the two-time World Indoor medallist said, “I came here with very high expectations and although I maybe didn’t meet them, I’m coming away a world bronze medallist and I really can’t complain with that. I think it’s probably a good thing that I am walking away thinking I could do a little better, but ultimately I’m delighted.
“After opening my season so well at the national championships, I really hoped to come here and do something extraordinary. I’ve had a couple of health issues since nationals and I wouldn’t say that training has gone 100%, so what I did today probably showed that. What’s amazing is that a sub-par day still gets me a medal and I’m really excited to build on this for the outdoor season.
“My plan is to do the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. I’ll open at the Commonwealths, and then the Europeans are the main aim for me. I want to try and win gold. It’s going to be a tough competition, but if you don’t go in with the mindset to win gold, you’re never going to do it. I’m going to work really hard for the next four or five months and put myself in the position to win that gold.”
The national record holder made a strong start in the 60m hurdles this morning, clocking 8.23 seconds – just 0.02 outside her personal best set at the recent National Indoor Championships. She followed this with a best clearance of 1.81m in the high jump, achieved on her final attempt despite tripping on a cable during her opening run-up.
In the shot put, the final event of the morning session, the 25-year-old delivered an excellent series. She opened with 14.59m, improved to a 1cm personal best of 14.65m in her second round, and then extended that further to 14.70m with her final throw.
O’Connor began the evening session with a foul in the long jump but once again rose to the occasion, producing a best of 6.38m on her final attempt to keep her firmly in the medal hunt in her final 800m event.
It marks another hugely successful championship for Team Ireland and bodes well for the upcoming outdoor season, which will be headlined by the European Championships in Birmingham from August 10–16.
Full Results are available HERE.
