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.