Kate O'Connor poised to strike for European gold after putting herself in 'great position'
After a disappointing opening two throws in the shot put, Kate O'Connor's third effort was clutch. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Gold is within reach. Kate O’Connor is within striking distance.
In as treacherous an event as the seven-discipline heptathlon, to safely pass the halfway mark on the heels of both an unexpected leader and expected contender is a superb day’s work. It is really the only day’s work.
The Day 1 report card shows a 100m hurdles lifetime best, a high jump lifetime best equalled, a mediocre shot put, and a tailwind-blessed 200m blast.
The Day 1 report card adds up to 3,926 points. For comparison, that is 20 points better than she managed after four events on her way to the 6,714 national record and World Championship silver 12 months ago in Tokyo.
Kate O’Connor turns into Saturday morning’s long jump in the bronze medal position. Sofie Dokter and the silver is 24 points further up the road. Adrianna Sulek-Schubert and the coveted gold is 42 points in the near distance. European leader Annik Kälin is sixth and 80 points in her rearview mirror.
The margins in front of Kate are minuscule. Match them in the sandpit and she can spear them with her javelin.
Her 6.50m national record from earlier in the year tells of her improved credentials in the long jump. Her 53.06m best over the javelin is superior by 10 metres to the Polish Sulek-Schubert and nine on the Dutch Dokter.
A magnificent seventh consecutive championship medal and Ireland’s seventh ever European Championship gold is right on her radar.
And yet, the self-critiquing O’Connor gave little airtime to satisfaction.
“Up and down,” was her Day 1 verdict.
“I'm within striking distance [of gold], but I have to go out and I have to execute everything perfectly. But they do too. So, I think I’ve put myself in a great position.
“If I threw a better shot, I'd be in an amazing position. But I'm in a strong position and I feel healthy and fit. And I feel like I'm capable of coming out and performing tomorrow.”
Her “up and down” overall assessment and shot put reflection that “I let myself down” cannot take from the fact that she’s ahead of where she was when paving a path to World Championship silver.
“I think I'm capable of scoring 6,800, 6,900, if I put something great together. And I don't want to use championships as an excuse, but it is difficult to score big scores in championships,” she replied when this reality was pointed out to her.
“I would love to break the national record, and I think it is going to take a new national record to get on the podium, so the goal is to just perform out of my skin in the three events tomorrow and see where that leads me.
“Before, the last couple of years, the expectation was just of myself, not of everybody else. That's something that I'm still learning how to navigate.”
She navigated the expectation and pressure superbly in a 200m where “I had to pull up my socks”. Blessed with a +3.4m/s tailwind, she clocked 23.79. Significantly faster than her 24.07 lifetime best, the illegal wind reading means it won’t count as a new PB.
The wind and time were gratefully welcome following a shot put where, by her own admission, she felt “lost”.
Even though the weather was significantly improved on the horrible and soap-like conditions of Glasgow two weeks ago, O’Connor’s shot-putting in the first evening event again threatened to leave her “gutted”.
Her opening throw of 13.46m left her 12th of 12 in the stronger Group A. Seeing her so far down a field scoreboard was so rare as to be unsettling. The second launch was no better and so she deliberately conceded the foul.
It made for familiar Kate O’Connor territory. Once more, a clutch third and final attempt needed to be found. Otherwise significant ground was going to be conceded to the Pole in front of her and the European-leading trio closing behind her.
Sulek-Schubert opened with 14.65m, not very far off her 14.89m lifetime best. Dokter opened with a lifetime best of 14.75. Sophie Weissenberg came with a final round 14.04m. Emma Oosterwegel came with a final round 14.26m. Even Kälin’s final round 13.59m was better than O’Connor’s.
They were all gaining on her. The third effort had to be clutch. True to her proven track record in such sticky corners, it was. 13.96m. A 50cm and 33-point improvement. Need we have been concerned at all?
O’Connor’s expression still told of an athlete deeply unhappy. Better to be unhappy with 791 points than 758 points.
Her morning’s 13.30 100m hurdles and 1.86m high jump were PBs. Class and clutch. Typical Kate O’Connor carry on. She’s spoiling us once again. She’s in position to spoil herself on Saturday evening. She's in position to strike.
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