"O'Connor has also ended a lengthy medal drought for the Irish at her sport's top table. Since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Ireland had gone 18 straight global outdoor championships without a medal in track or field, and it's 12 years since they won a medal of any kind at the World Championships - going back to Rob Heffernan's race walk gold in 2013."
"But now that drought has ended and, as good as this was, it might just be the beginning. O'Connor had already bagged three medals this year: pentathlon bronze at the European Indoors, silver at the World Indoors and heptathlon gold at the World University Games. But this was on an entirely different level, O'Connor defeating both the reigning world champion and also the reigning Olympic champion as she etched her name among the immortals of Irish athletics."
O'Connor claimed heptathlon silver in Tokyo with 6714 points, finishing behind Anna Hall (6888) and setting a new Irish national record, surpassing 6487. The achievement ended an 18-championship medal drought for Ireland in global outdoor track and field and closed a 12-year World Championships medal gap since 2013. Earlier in the year she won pentathlon bronze at the European Indoors, silver at the World Indoors and heptathlon gold at the World University Games. Day one highlights included a 100m hurdles personal best of 13.44, a high jump PB of 1.86m and a 14.37m shot put despite inconsistent training. She defeated both the reigning world and Olympic champions, marking a landmark moment for Irish multi-event athletics.
Read at Irish Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]