In front of a massive contingent of Irish fans in the Alexander Stadium, Kate O’Connor won Ireland’s second gold medal of the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham following Mark English's victory in the men's 800m on Thursday night.
In a competitive and captivating heptathlon which saw the overall lead switch hands multiple times, O’Connor crucially remained in pole position after the two days of competition reached its denouement on Saturday (15) evening.
In summary
- Kate O'Connor wins heptathlon gold with an Irish record of 6751 points
- Emma Oosterwegel and Sofie Dokter win silver and bronze for the Netherlands
- The top four scorers all break the 6600 points-barrier
A tantalising six points separated the top three after the long jump. Switzerland’s Annik Kälin regained the overall lead with a wind-aided 6.81m in the long jump to take her score up to 4955 points but O’Connor kept herself in title contention by producing a timely lifetime best of 6.55m for 4949 points.
But O’Connor had her strongest event to come and despite the impediment of a headwind, the world silver medallist threw 50.16m in the javelin to move into the overall lead for the first time with 5812 points.
However, she was pursued up the leaderboard by Emma Oosterwegel from the Netherlands - another renowned javelin specialist - who produced the longest throw of the competition with 51.49m to improve from sixth to second overall with 5761 points and put herself in with a chance, albeit a slim one, of the title.
Oosterwegel needed to beat O’Connor by 3.5 seconds in the 800m and while the 2020 Olympic bronze medallist set out with enterprise, O’Connor shadowed her every step and finished within one second of the Dutchwoman, 2:10.87 to 2:11.74.
For O’Connor, this was her seventh successive medal from a major championships, a run of success which dates back to the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn where she won pentathlon bronze.
But this was by far her most significant title so far and it was achieved at what has been tantamount to a home championship with Irish tricolours being waved with pride and fervour in every corner of the Alexander Stadium. Her winning score of 6751 points also eclipsed her previous national record by 37 points.
Behind O’Connor, Oosterwegel led the Dutch to a double, winning silver with 6713 points with world indoor champion Sofie Dokter taking the bronze in 6664 points. All three medallists set lifetime bests.
2026 world leader Annik Kälin had to settle for fourth with 6630 points while overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert from Poland dropped down the rankings to seventh with 6375 points.
What they said
Kate O'Connor (IRL)
"That was the most nerve-wracking 800 metres of my whole life. I knew I had a job to do just like I have had a few jobs to do these past weeks. Some I have executed and some I haven't, so I was nervous before that run."
"A few years ago I would never have dreamt this would have happened. It's been a long two years, there's been a lot of medals but also the increasing pressure that comes with every competition and each one of those has been different."
Emma Oosterwegel (NED)
"Before the European Championships, I knew I had the chance of winning a medal, and that actually made me quite nervous up front. It was hard to deal with those nerves if I'm very honest. Those nerves mainly came up the day before competition and on the first day itself. I tried to take it event by event. After the first one I knew I was in a good position for a medal, but the level across the board is quite high, so it was still very exciting until the end."
Sofie Dokter (NED)
"It's great to be on this podium together with Emma. This was somewhat of a dream scenario. Overall, I got stronger and faster. I think that was the key to success here. I have also worked more on a mental level recently, which works a lot. I feel I am only getting better and better."