Kate O’Connor has endured something of a physical and emotional rollercoaster to book a long-cherished Olympic Games spot.
After injury led to her narrowly missing out on an Olympic Games place in Tokyo three years ago, her body once again appeared set to thwart her Paris dream.
The Dundalk heptathlete ruptured ankle ligaments in a gym mishap at Christmas which meant no indoor campaign in the winter and spring.
Having missed so much training, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist felt she wasn’t quite ready for the competitive rigours of the European Championships in Rome where the Ireland team excelled as she instead opted for a final last-ditch attempt at Olympic qualification in Germany two weeks later.
But a fortnight before the competition in Ratingen, the 23-year-old suffered a hamstring tear as history threatened to repeat itself.
“I was training really, really well and I hurt my hamstring and I was really, really upset. I will never forget that day.”
But while unable to train over the following fortnight as her physical endeavours had to be confined to rehabbing, O’Connor went into “brain training” mode and that mental preparation helped produce the second best heptathlon of her career, which ultimately proved enough to clinch an Olympic berth, despite the most anxious of waits.
‘I ran with my heart and soul in that 800’
“Weirdly enough I turned up for that competition in Germany feeling the most ready I have ever felt for a competition,” recalls the Irish athlete.
“I had done so much brain training that I knew exactly what I was going to do in each event.
“I would say it was one of the least enjoyable heptathlons because it was just getting through each event and trying to keep my hamstring in check but ultimately it was my second best ever heptathlon.”
O’Connor describes the concluding 800m in Ratingen as one of the nerve-wracking events of her athletics career.
“My coaches sat me done before I ran it and told me if I finished second, there’s a good chance I’ll go to the Olympics and if I finish third, there’s a good chance I won’t go.
“I ran with my heart and soul in that 800 and when I crossed the line, that feeling of ‘OK……I could be going to the Olympics’ was something I’d never felt before.”
But while the superb performance in Germany moved her up to 22nd spot in the Olympic rankings and inside the all important top-24 spots, the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games athlete still was far from assured of an Olympic debut with still a full week to go in World Athletics’ qualification process.
Over the next nerve-wracking 10 days, O’Connor even resorted to Google Translate to attempt to keep tabs on the progress of a Chinese athlete who was just outside the top 24.
“That’s how deep I got in. You never know what else has happened in the world.
Competing in a number of individual events at the Irish Championships on Saturday, 29 June, essentially as a training exercise, “made that day pass quickly” while a shopping day Sunday in Dublin also kept the mind occupied.
“The name of the game was keeping myself distracted. I couldn’t look. It was awful.
“It was Tuesday again when the ranking list was updated. The relief was crazy. It was a sense of relief but also a great sense of achievement.
“My mum was crying down the phone when I actually told her. I actually weirdly didn’t cry because I think I was in a sense of shock because it had been such a long wait. I was actually drained. I hadn’t been sleeping great.”
‘I’ve achieved my life long dream’
Having come through that mental and physical torment, O’Connor says her mindset going into the Olympic heptathlon on 8 and 9 August will be to “enjoy the heptathlon”.
“Still trying to go through each event and trying to season’s best or PB in but I’m looking forward to enjoying being there.
“I’ve actually achieved my life long dream. And it’s not just my dream, it my coaches’ dream too and it’s so important to so many people.
“And I get to compete on the biggest stage in the world. There’s no competition bigger than this one.
“I’m just trying to enjoy every single second between now and then even though it’s nerve-wracking. I’m just trying to soak up the experience.”
Like many early 20-something athletes, O’Connor’s first Olympic memories are of Super Saturday at the London 2012 Games when Jessica Ennis-Hill clinched the heptathlon title in what was one of three Great Britain gold medals in a breathless 44-minute period.
“We actually went to watch the Olympics in the stadium in London. We weren’t there for Super Saturday but watching Jess win that gold medal was definitely a moment when I thought ‘I want to do that’.
“That’s why I grew up doing all the different events and then just naturally fell into multi-events.
“Those Olympics sparked my love for the heptathlon but also wanting to get to the Olympics.
“It’s so weird that I’m going to something that I sat in a stadium with a huge big crowd and watching all these people cheer these people that are the top 1% in their sport and now I’m going to going to be one of the people in the top 1%.”
As for targets, O’Connor believes improving the Irish record of 6297 points she set in 2021 could be good enough to achieve a top-eight finish.
“My goal is to set a new national record and just tip along in each event, collect the points, try to season’s best or PB in everything. Just put on a performance.
“I just want to go out and enjoy it and whenever I enjoy heptathlons, I put on a show. That’s what I do and I want my first experience to be a good one and a good one for everybody associated with me.”
Team Ireland athletics squad
Women’s team:
Sarah Lavin (100mH), Rhasidat Adeleke (400m), Sharlene Mawdsley (400m), Sophie Becker (400m), Ciara Mageean (1500m), Sarah Healy (1500m), Sophie O’Sullivan (1500m), Jodie McCann (5000m), Fionnuala McCormack (Marathon), Nicola Tuthill (Hammer Throw) & Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon).
Men’s team:
Mark English (800m), Andrew Coscoran (1500m), Cathal Doyle (1500m), Luke McCann (1500m), Brian Fay (5000m), Eric Favors (Shot Put)
Mixed 4 x 400m Relay from:
Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Lauren Cadden, Kelly McGrory, Rachel McCann, Chris O’Donnell, Thomas Barr, Jack Raftery.
Women’s 4 x 400m Relay from:
Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Lauren Cadden, Kelly McGrory, Rachel McCann.
