Katherine O'Connor (born 12 December 2000) is an Irish track and field athlete who competes in the heptathlon and indoor pentathlon for Ireland and Northern Ireland. As of July 2026, O'Connor is the Irish record holder for heptathlon and indoor pentathlon, and both the 2026 European champion and the 2026 Commonwealth Games champion in the former.
A European medalist for Ireland at the under-20 age-grade level in 2019, she came to senior prominence by winning a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, representing Northern Ireland.
In 2025 she achieved a breakthrough year, winning four senior international medals across the indoor and outdoor season. She won a bronze medal in the Pentathlon at the 2025 European Indoor Championships, setting a new national record, and a silver at the World Indoor Championships a few weeks later. In the summer, she took gold in the 2025 World University Games, the Universiade in heptathlon. In September 2025, O'Connor won a Heptathlon silver medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
In 2026, her run of success continued as she won a bronze medal representing Ireland in the indoor pentathlon at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships before winning the gold medal in the 2026 Commonwealth Games heptathlon, once more representing Northern Ireland, and only days later the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2026 European Athletics Championships. O'Connor was the first woman to win both these titles in the same year since Denise Lewis in 1998.
Career O'Connor has been coached since childhood by her father Michael.Cathal Dennehy, "'Kate's able to ask questions and be very, very direct with me, but that's the relationship a parent has with a child'". Belfast Telegraph, 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025
O'Connor was born in Newry, County Down in Northern Ireland, but raised in the neighbouring town of Dundalk, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland, around 12 miles from her birthplace. At 17, she competed for Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, finishing eighth in the heptathlon.
She won a silver in the heptathlon at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden.
O'Connor won a silver medal competing in the heptathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, her first senior medal, behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
She qualified for the heptathlon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, finishing in 13th place.
O'Connor became the first Irish heptathlete to compete at an Olympics when she finished 14th at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
She set a new Irish indoor pentathlon record of 4,683 points at the Tallinn Combined Events meeting in Estonia in February 2025.
O'Connor won a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships after winning the 800m race, setting 4 new personal bests in the long jump, high jump, 60m hurdles and in the 800m.
She claimed a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
She became World University Games champion in 2025.'Kate O'Connor delivers a gold medal at the World University Games'. RTÉ Sport, 24 July 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025
O'Connor won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, setting a new national record of 6,714 points in the process and registering five personal bests across the seven events.
In March 2026, O'Connor won a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in a new Irish record score of 4839 points.
She won gold representing Northern Ireland at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in heptathlon, 291 points ahead of Great Britain's Jade O'Dowda in second. 17 days later, she won gold again, this time for Ireland at the 2026 European championships in the heptathlon, edging Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel by 38 points in a new national record of 6,751 points. The win in Birmingham brought her run of successive medals in successive combined events competition to seven.
Personal life O'Connor began studying at Sheffield Hallam University in 2019 and graduated in 2022 with a degree in sport development with coaching. O'Connor completed a master's degree in Communication and Public Relations at Ulster University in 2025 and graduated in Belfast in December 2025.'Heptathlete Kate O'Connor honoured by Ulster University following World University Games Gold'. Ulster University, 13 August 2025"O'Connor 'never could have imagined' 2025 success". BBC Sport, 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025
Although raised in Dundalk and a member of Saint Gerard's Athletic Club, O'Connor was born in the nearby city of Newry, in County Down, Northern Ireland. She is therefore eligible by birth to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. As athletes from Northern Ireland are automatically eligible to represent either the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team,https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/ or Ireland in World Athletics events, representing Northern Ireland does not affect her eligibility to represent Ireland in other competitions.
Personal bests
+Indoor & OutdoorEventRecordPointsDate60m Hurdles8.21111320 February 2026Long Jump6.55m111915 August 2026800m (indoor)2:10.2696122 March 2026200m (indoor)25.0698717 February 2018Pentathlon4839 22 March 2026100m Hurdles13.30110914 August 2026High Jump1.86m108219 September 2025200m23.79*103614 August 2026800m2:09.5699720 September 2025Javelin53.06m95020 September 2025Shot Put14.70m84122 March 2026Heptathlon6751 15 August 2026
References
External links
Kate O'Connor at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived)