Dundalk's O'Connor Olympics recap

Dundalk heptathlete, Kate O’Connor, put Louth on the international stage by making history to become the first Irish athlete to compete in the women’s heptathlon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Her incredible journey to the Olympics is a story of hard work and determination in a sport that demands skill over seven events: the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m.

Getting to the Olympics has always been a dream that Kate had since she was a young girl with a passion for athletics.

(Kate O’Connor during a Team Ireland squad training session at Stade Philippe Mahut. Picture by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)

Speaking on her achievement of qualifying for the Olympics, she said: "It's madness. When I really think about it, every child starts into athletics or a lot of sports wanting to go to the Olympics."

"When I think about it, less than 1% of people get to go to this competition, so I am just trying to enjoy every single second of it because a lot of hard work has gone into it - I am really looking forward to it."

Kate secured her Olympic place just in time to make the cut through the quota system on the final day of qualification. 

When reflecting on the journey, she said: “I have been working towards this ever since I was seven or eight years old.

“It has always been my dream, and now I actually get to live it. I think that I have definitely made little me proud.”

However, her road to Paris was far from smooth as she suffered an ankle injury while training just before Christmas which threatened her entire season.

“It was a really tough winter for me,” Kate explained. “I was training really well, and it was an accident that happened in the gym. 

“It wasn’t as if my body said no—it was just a foot placement that went wrong, and at one stage, we thought I wouldn’t have a season."

With the help of her dedicated support team, Kate made a remarkable recovery in half the expected time, managing to bounce back in time for the Olympics. 

She credited her recovery to the people around her everyone from her coaches to her physiotherapists who took care.

“I have such a great support team around me. They really looked after me and cared for me not just as an athlete but also as a person.

“I have to give a lot of credit to them for getting me to the games. It has been a tough few months, but it has all been worth it,” she said.

Her support system includes her father Michael, and her coaches Tom Reynolds and Peter Samly, who have been with her every step of the way.

Kate acknowledged the immense effort it takes to prepare for a heptathlon, with seven different events demanding a carefully coordinated approach.

“Some people who aren’t into sport think that I just turn up to training and do it all by myself, but that’s definitely not the case," Kate said. "It takes an army to get somewhere like this."

Kate’s training regime is intense and often stretches from 9 am to 5 pm each day. The physical and mental commitment needed to excel across seven different disciplines is staggering and is a full-time job for the 23-year-old athlete.

“It takes a lot of time. Multi-events are one of the events that take the most amount of time to train because you are not just doing one event—you are actually trying to do seven,” she explained.

Despite the heavy demands of her athletic career, Kate has also managed to balance her education. She holds a degree from Sheffield Hallam University and is currently pursuing an MA in Communications and PR at Ulster University.

“Education is something that I think is really important, so I wanted to keep pursuing that in the background,” she said. 

(Kate O’Connor, second from left, in action during the women's heptathlon 100m hurdles at the Stade de France. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)

Kate's journey came full circle on the Olympic stage in Paris when her two-day competition began at the iconic Stade de France with the 100m hurdles.

Although her start was shaky and she crossed the finish line in seventh place in her heat, she remained focused. Speaking after the hurdles event she admitted it wasn’t the start she had hoped for.

Kate said: "The hurdles weren’t really what I was planning on doing. I haven’t been out in front of a crowd for a year, and it was more just like I felt stunned, almost like a rabbit in the headlights."

But Kate bounced back in the next events and she cleared 1.77m - a solid performance in the high jump. Her confidence grew with each event and in the shot put she threw a solid 13.79m.

(Kate O’Connor celebrates a clearance of 1.74m during the women's heptathlon high jump. Picture by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)

"The shot put was solid," Kate said. "Everything is up and down, so it's just trying to string together a solid performance throughout."

Kate’s favourite events, the javelin, and hurdles, saw her truly shine. Her best event was in the javelin throw when she launched a throw of 50.36m, moving up four places in the standings.

Her strong performance in the javelin reflected the hard work she had put into perfecting the discipline. The final event of the heptathlon was the 800m which tested Kate’s endurance after two days of competition.

She finished with a season’s best time of 2:13.25 to cap off a remarkable Olympic debut. Kate finished 14th overall with a final score of 6,167 points which is an incredible achievement for her first Olympics.

(Kate O’Connor in action during the women's heptathlon javelin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)

"I came here, and my goal was to not have any regrets from all the events," Kate said. "From the high jump on, I made sure to enjoy the experience and just be me, just enjoy it and lap up the whole experience."

Her performance in Paris was not only a personal victory but also a milestone for Irish athletics. As the first Irish heptathlete at the Olympics, Kate hopes to inspire future generations of athletes to embrace the sport and compete at the highest levels.

She said: “I just want to show everyone at home that there is more to track and field than just on the track and that field events are just as fun and just as great."

Kate was met with a hero's welcome at the Team Ireland homecoming reception on O’Connell Street in Dublin when over 20,000 people gathered to celebrate Ireland’s Olympians.

(Team Ireland athletes, including Kate O’Connor, left, during the Team Ireland homecoming. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile)

“There are so many Irish flags around—it is amazing. Every single flag that I see pushes me on a little bit further, and every smiling face makes me realise why I do it all,” she said.

Kate’s passion for inspiring the next generation is clear and she hopes to leave a lasting legacy not just as a talented athlete, but as someone who encourages others to take up multi-events.

She said: “There are loads of little kids out there, so I tried to give them all a little wave because, again, I love to inspire people to come and do not just track and field but multi-events because it is a brilliant sport."

Her Olympic debut in Paris is only the beginning as she has her sights set on continuing to excel in her sport and inspire a town and nation along the way.

Kate O'Connor after her final event at the Stade de France. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile