“There was more in me, but I got the medal” - Dundalk's O’Connor reflects on World bronze

Dundalk's Kate O’Connor admitted she had to overcome early doubts before securing a bronze medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Toruń, Poland, on Sunday evening.

The St Gerard’s AC star delivered another major championship performance in the pentathlon, earning a second successive global medal after a hard-fought series of events.

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O’Connor revealed she was not fully comfortable at the start of the competition, with a minor injury concern affecting her mindset in the opening event.

Speaking to Virgin Media after her final event, she said: “I've had a little bit of a niggle in my Achilles, so I suppose I was a little bit on edge for the hurdles.

“I just wanted to get through it, and I suppose I'm used to going out and doing a PB on the first event, so I was a little bit like, ugh, whenever that happened.

“I know I was 0.02 off my PB, but I’m just really competitive. And then went into the high jump, and I didn't really settle into my competition.

“I more was just going through it rather than competing. And I came away from that, and I had a little chat with myself, and I decided, hold on a second.

“You're at World Indoor Champs. You go on and on and on about how you love to compete, and you compete your best when you're enjoying it and happy.

“So, I went out into the shot put, and I enjoyed myself. And I set off a few dance moves whenever my shot was going well, and I just enjoyed the competition.

“And I went into the long jump, and again, I know I failed my first jump, and that was a little bit. I probably gave a few people a heart attack.”

Long jump

The Dundalk athlete produced one of the key moments of her competition in the long jump, recovering after an early foul to put herself back into medal contention.

“I mean, failing your first jump is kind of a nightmare to be honest, in multi-events, because, yeah, your second jump then is a safety jump, and you're really left to one jump then that you can actually attack.

“So, yes, I got my second jump in and safe, and then the plan was just to go all out and hit the board as hard as I could and jump as hard as I can, and I think that the jump that I did was great.

“There was more in me, but I managed to get a decent jump out, which kind of secured a medal for me, I suppose.”

800 metres

The final event left O’Connor with a difficult target as she chased the leading contenders, including American Anna Hall, who is known for her strength in the 800m.

“I mean, like, for me to try to keep a silver or move up into gold, I had to keep Anna within three seconds, and I knew that was going to be a really hard feat.

“But I tried not to be afraid of it, and I tried my best to do it, and I always like to show where my fitness is, and it's something that I'll build on, and I have been building.

“And yeah, I'm hoping that in future years I'll be able to go out and do what I need to do in the 800 to win a global medal.”

Confidence

O’Connor finished just 28 points behind Hall and believes her progress over the last two seasons shows she is closing the gap at the highest level.

“I've been working really hard, and like I said, I'm really excited for outdoors when I get a javelin in my hand, and I've gotten really quick. I think that I can do something special in the hep.

“And before last year, the pentathlon was... I didn't really like pentathlons because there was no javelins, so to have a global medal again for the second year running.

“I just think it shows the growth that I've had over the last couple of years, and yeah, I think it'll feat really well for the outdoors.”

Gold target

With bronze and silver now on her record at major championships, the Dundalk multi-eventer has already set her sights on the outdoor season, with the Commonwealth Games and European Championships on the horizon.

“So, my plan is to do the Commonwealth Games and European Champs. We're going to open up the season at the Commonwealth Games, and then Europeans is the main aim for me to go out, and I want to try and win gold.

“Sofie’s (Dokter) going to be there, and a few other really great girls are going to be there, so it's going to be a tough competition.

“But I think that if you don't go in with the head to win gold, then you're never going to do it, so I'm going to work really hard for the next four or five months and put myself in the position to hopefully get that gold.”