Irishwoman adds European heptathlon title to Commonwealth success in Birmingham while Katarina Johnson-Thompson battles on till the end despite injury.

The track might be blue, but the Alexander Stadium was turned a deep shade of green on Saturday night (August 15) as Kate O’Connor’s golden heptathlon summer continued in Birmingham. 

Roared on by the large sections of the crowd bedecked in the colours of Ireland, the woman who had won the Commonwealth title in Glasgow on July 29 added European gold to her growing list of achievements. 

Sitting in third place at the beginning of day two, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, the 25-year-old produced a personal best of 6.55m in the long jump to start day two and strengthened her hand with a javelin throw of 50.16m. 

Going into the final event, the 800m, it meant O’Connor had to finish within around 3.5 seconds of Emma Oosterwegel to be sure of the gold. The Dutchwoman clocked 2:10.87, but the Irishwoman’s time of 2:11.74 not only secured first place but helped her to a national record-breaking total of 6751. 

A PB of 6713 gave Oosterwegel silver while her Dutch team-mate Sofie Dokter also produced her biggest-ever total in third with 6664. 

Commonwealth silver medallist Jade O'Dowda finished 13th with 6191, while her fellow Briton and two-time world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who has struggled with injury all year, was 21st in the 21-strong field with 5790 but was hugely proud of completing the competition despite being short of the peak of her powers.

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