3 months ago
Ireland's Kate O'Connor is in pole position for heptathlon gold with one event remaining at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, but Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson finds herself out of contention.
Newry-born O'Connor entered Saturday morning in third place after four events on Friday, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, but her personal best form continued in the long jump with an initial effort of 6.55m.
The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games' gold medallist followed up with 50.16 in the javelin to take her overall total to 5812 points, 51 ahead of Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel [5761] with another Dutch athlete, Sofie Dokter [5741] in third.
Poland's Sulek-Schubert dropped to seventh after a disappointment start to Saturday.
Johnson-Thompson's struggles continued following an injury-hit build-up.
#Gold
Newry-born O'Connor entered Saturday morning in third place after four events on Friday, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, but her personal best form continued in the long jump with an initial effort of 6.55m.
The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games' gold medallist followed up with 50.16 in the javelin to take her overall total to 5812 points, 51 ahead of Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel [5761] with another Dutch athlete, Sofie Dokter [5741] in third.
Poland's Sulek-Schubert dropped to seventh after a disappointment start to Saturday.
Johnson-Thompson's struggles continued following an injury-hit build-up.
#Gold
3 months ago
Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson said injuries have held her back as she struggled on day one of the heptathlon at the European Championships.
Two-time world champion Johnson-Thompson has never won a European heptathlon ***** le, taking silver in 2018 behind Belgian great Nafissatou Thiam.
While three-time Olympic champion Thiam is absent, Johnson-Thompson's own injury issues meant her form leading into the championships was unknown.
The 33-year-old had competed just once - in the shot put at an event in Loughborough in May - since winning world bronze in Tokyo last September.
And a lack of competition time was evident as she finished the first day of the heptathlon in 16th place - 324 points behind leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert of Poland.
#heptathlon #great
Two-time world champion Johnson-Thompson has never won a European heptathlon ***** le, taking silver in 2018 behind Belgian great Nafissatou Thiam.
While three-time Olympic champion Thiam is absent, Johnson-Thompson's own injury issues meant her form leading into the championships was unknown.
The 33-year-old had competed just once - in the shot put at an event in Loughborough in May - since winning world bronze in Tokyo last September.
And a lack of competition time was evident as she finished the first day of the heptathlon in 16th place - 324 points behind leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert of Poland.
#heptathlon #great
3 months ago
Ireland's Kate O'Connor had "mixed emotions" after day one of the women's heptathlon at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist trailed leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert by one point after the morning session that saw her record a personal best in the 100m hurdles and equal her PB in the high jump, but dropped to third after the evening events.
A 10th-place finish saw O'Connor drop back, but a third PB of the day in the 200m saw her narrow the gap to 42 points on Poland's Sulek-Schubert on 3968 points with Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands now in second, 24 points behind the leader.
The heptathlon continues on Saturday morning with the long jump and javelin, while the event concludes in the evening with the 800m.
"This is really stiff competition and I let myself down again in the shot put, so I had to put my head down and work really hard out there [in the 200m]," Newry-born O'Connor told BBC Sport after the 200m.
#points #sulek #schubert #Third
The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist trailed leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert by one point after the morning session that saw her record a personal best in the 100m hurdles and equal her PB in the high jump, but dropped to third after the evening events.
A 10th-place finish saw O'Connor drop back, but a third PB of the day in the 200m saw her narrow the gap to 42 points on Poland's Sulek-Schubert on 3968 points with Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands now in second, 24 points behind the leader.
The heptathlon continues on Saturday morning with the long jump and javelin, while the event concludes in the evening with the 800m.
"This is really stiff competition and I let myself down again in the shot put, so I had to put my head down and work really hard out there [in the 200m]," Newry-born O'Connor told BBC Sport after the 200m.
#points #sulek #schubert #Third
