Kate O’Connor said her late grandmother “would have been jumping for joy” as the Ireland athlete won gold in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham.
The Newry-born 25-year-old entered the final event, the 800m, with a 51-point lead on nearest challenger Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands.
O’Connor needed to finish within 3.4 seconds of Oosterwegel to seal overall victory and did just that, with the Dutchwoman winning the race in 2:10.87 as O’Connor – in third behind Sveva Gerevini of Italy – clocked 2:11.74.
It meant that O’Connor came top with 6,751 points – a national record – with Oosterwegel taking silver on 6,713 and Netherlands’ Sofie Dokter claiming bronze on 6,664.
This success builds on the gold O’Connor won at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland in July and silver at last year’s World Championships.
“A couple of years ago, I probably wouldn’t have thought this would happen to me,” O’Connor told RTE Sport.
“It’s been a long two years. I know there’s been medals [won], but there is an increase in pressure with every competition, so each has been different to try and navigate that and this competition has been no different. It’s been difficult from start to finish and I didn’t have it easy for a second.
“This year has been really tough from outside – my granny dies earlier this year and I don’t think I give my dad enough credit, but it hit home for him and the way he turned up to training day-in and day-out…
“This is my dream, but it’s his dream too and I have to dedicate this medal to my granny because she was both of our biggest fans and would have been jumping for joy if she was here.”
