What Kate O'Connor needs tonight to stay on medal track

Kate O'Connor of Ireland during the women's heptathlon during day five of the European Athletics Championships 2026 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Kate O’Connor doing typical Kate O’Connor things means we have all become - once again - self-anointed heptathlon experts.

Be it the shot put capabilities of a Polish multi-eventer nobody was mentioning as a contender before this morning, calculating what KJT needs to launch and bolt later on to drag herself up the pecking order, or reciting the 23-flat 200m best of O’Connor’s chief Swiss rival, there’s very little we don’t know about a competition we knew very little about before today.

Said competition, after two events, shows Kate O’Connor sitting second. Her 2,134 total, owing to lifetime bests in the 100m hurdles and high jump, has her a single point behind Polish leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert.

The latter was the silver medalist four years ago in Munich, winning World and European indoor silver in the six months either side of that. She was fourth, directly behind O'Connor, at the World indoors in March. She is no bolter.

Sulek-Schubert’s shot put personal best, the same as O’Connor’s, was achieved earlier this year. The Pole’s 14.89m is 19cm superior. The difference equates to a mere 12 points.

What O’Connor therefore needs to ensure in Friday’s third event is that the gap to the athlete in front of her remains minimal and the gap to those behind her remains somewhat significant.

After a 12.85m shot at the recent Commonwealth Games, albeit in horrible and soap-like throwing conditions, O’Connor’s three attempts will be under scrutiny, not least from the athlete herself. “Gutted” was her reaction to that Commonwealth Games effort.

Kate O'Connor of Ireland celebrates with her coach and father Michael O'Connor after clearing 1.86m in the high jump during the women's heptathlon during day five of the European Athletics Championships 2026 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Of the three Europeans who entered Birmingham with better season’s bests than the 25-year-old Dundalk native - Annik Kälin, Emma Oosterwegel, and Sofie Dokter - none have a greater shot PB than O’Connor.

World indoor champion Dokter owns the same 14.70m lifetime best as O’Connor. And while Kälin has thrown 14.67m on her day, that day was three years ago now. Her season’s best is a far more modest 14m dead. And if something along the lines of this 70cm difference plays out, that's a swing of 43 points to the Irish.

That the trio currently reside in fourth (Kälin), fifth (Oosterwegel), and sixth (Dokter), and find themselves 80, 104, and 108 points adrift of the Irishwoman respectively is because of sub-par high jumping.

Kälin’s 1.71m mark was 10cm below what she’s capable of clearing, undoing her 12.59 hurdles clocking, while the Dutch pair both couldn’t move beyond 1.74m, even though Dokter has leapt 1.89m in the past.

The shot put circle opens at 7.35pm. It is the 200m from 8.55pm where this European-leading trio will attempt to hunt down O’Connor and Sulek-Schubert.

Of the five, O’Connor’s 24.07 PB and 24.14 SB are slowest. She’s the sole member of the five yet to break 24 seconds. Where gold is concerned in Birmingham, that statistic may require correcting tonight.

She and Sulek-Schubert, who has run 23.84 this season, will go in the second heat.

The PBs of Kälin (23.00), Oosterwegel (23.65), and Dokter (23.13) are all freshly minted from 2026. In heptathlon currency, there’s a significant 106 points between Kälin and O’Connor on 200m form.

Maybe somewhat unfairly, we’ve not yet mentioned third-placed Sophie Weißenberg. Sixty points adrift of Kate, the German’s 14.01m shot and, in particular, 23.25 for 200m this season should keep her in the overnight hunt.

By which point we’ll all be better educated again in this latest O’Connor medal charge.