‘I want to turn up and put it up to the girls' – Kate O'Connor says indoor season has put her in bracket to contend
'I think my indoor season has put me in the bracket [where] I will definitely be up there. I think it'll take another couple of years to be challenging for the top spot, and that's ultimately my goal.'
The 24-year-old multi-eventer is currently in Monte Gordo, Portugal, churning out twice-daily sessions while tipping away on her dissertation for a master's in communication and PR. O'Connor was a European U-20 silver medallist in 2019 and Commonwealth Games silver medallist for Northern Ireland in 2022, but this year brought her first senior medals for Ireland: pentathlon bronze at the European Indoors and World Indoors silver.
In recent weeks, the Dundalk native signed a professional deal with adidas, which helps cover the considerable expense of being a world-class heptathlete.
'Financially, it's definitely getting better,' she says. 'The backing I've got since indoors is on the up and over the next couple of years that'll come into play and see the benefits. Obviously, I'd love it to be more and I'd love to be able to bring my whole coaching staff with me and not have to choose based on budget.'
O'Connor wants to become a full-time athlete once she finishes her master's degree in September. 'It definitely helps whenever you have that extra time especially with my event taking up so much time training-wise. There are pros and cons to having something outside of athletics because you never know when the next injuries are in the corner or when things aren't going 100pc well on the track.
'I've always had something else or another part of my identity, which has been university.'
Before this year, few outside of athletics knew much about O'Connor, but her indoor campaign made her a well-known name. That comes with certain demands.
'It's taken a little bit of time to figure out what to say yes to and what to say no to. I would probably be a little bit of a people-pleaser and I'd have been saying yes to a lot of stuff, then suddenly starting to feel really overwhelmed and trying to fit training in.
'At the start, I was very naïve, thinking in the three weeks I took off afterwards [that] I was going to be able to fit everything in and then it would just stop and it would all go away and I'd be able to go back to normal. My dad has been a great help, dealing with all the emails, requests. He's been taking the brunt and I've been able to focus on training.'
With the World Championships over 10 weeks away, O'Connor has been in no rush to open her season early and will only do so at the World University Games on July 23, where she hopes to break her Irish heptathlon record of 6,297 points and surpass 6,500.
That kind of score is typically top six at World or Olympic level, with 6,700 or 6,800 usually needed for a medal. O'Connor has put huge emphasis on improving her speed this year, which she hopes will result in her breaking 24 seconds for 200m, while her javelin PB of 52.92m dates back to 2019 and looks ripe for revision.
'Everything is going well, I'm in the same sort of shape I was indoors, if not better,' she says. 'If you can turn up and your body's in good condition, then I think that anything can happen if you put the performances together.'
Kate O'Connor was speaking at the launch of Athletics Ireland's extended partnership with 123.ie, which will run to the end of 2030 in a multi-year six-figure deal.
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'My whole team focus has kind of changed,' she says. 'In previous years, we've gone to championships and I've looked up to those girls, where now it's a little bit more like I want to turn up and put it up to the girls. 'I think my indoor season has put me in the bracket [where] I will definitely be up there. I think it'll take another couple of years to be challenging for the top spot, and that's ultimately my goal.' The 24-year-old multi-eventer is currently in Monte Gordo, Portugal, churning out twice-daily sessions while tipping away on her dissertation for a master's in communication and PR. O'Connor was a European U-20 silver medallist in 2019 and Commonwealth Games silver medallist for Northern Ireland in 2022, but this year brought her first senior medals for Ireland: pentathlon bronze at the European Indoors and World Indoors silver. In recent weeks, the Dundalk native signed a professional deal with adidas, which helps cover the considerable expense of being a world-class heptathlete. 'Financially, it's definitely getting better,' she says. 'The backing I've got since indoors is on the up and over the next couple of years that'll come into play and see the benefits. Obviously, I'd love it to be more and I'd love to be able to bring my whole coaching staff with me and not have to choose based on budget.' O'Connor wants to become a full-time athlete once she finishes her master's degree in September. 'It definitely helps whenever you have that extra time especially with my event taking up so much time training-wise. There are pros and cons to having something outside of athletics because you never know when the next injuries are in the corner or when things aren't going 100pc well on the track. 'I've always had something else or another part of my identity, which has been university.' Before this year, few outside of athletics knew much about O'Connor, but her indoor campaign made her a well-known name. That comes with certain demands. 'It's taken a little bit of time to figure out what to say yes to and what to say no to. I would probably be a little bit of a people-pleaser and I'd have been saying yes to a lot of stuff, then suddenly starting to feel really overwhelmed and trying to fit training in. 'At the start, I was very naïve, thinking in the three weeks I took off afterwards [that] I was going to be able to fit everything in and then it would just stop and it would all go away and I'd be able to go back to normal. My dad has been a great help, dealing with all the emails, requests. He's been taking the brunt and I've been able to focus on training.' With the World Championships over 10 weeks away, O'Connor has been in no rush to open her season early and will only do so at the World University Games on July 23, where she hopes to break her Irish heptathlon record of 6,297 points and surpass 6,500. That kind of score is typically top six at World or Olympic level, with 6,700 or 6,800 usually needed for a medal. O'Connor has put huge emphasis on improving her speed this year, which she hopes will result in her breaking 24 seconds for 200m, while her javelin PB of 52.92m dates back to 2019 and looks ripe for revision. 'Everything is going well, I'm in the same sort of shape I was indoors, if not better,' she says. 'If you can turn up and your body's in good condition, then I think that anything can happen if you put the performances together.' Kate O'Connor was speaking at the launch of Athletics Ireland's extended partnership with which will run to the end of 2030 in a multi-year six-figure deal.
