Kate O'Connor targets medals at Commonwealth and European Championships

Irish heptathlete Kate O'Connor is setting her sights on medal success at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where her seven events are scheduled for July 28th and 29th. This competition is a key stepping stone as she builds towards her ultimate goal: peak performance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

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Everything we're doing is building towards being in the best possible shape for LA and the best possible athlete I can be by then. But you can definitely get caught up in the whole Olympic cycle, when there are so many other big championships and medals to win. But it's not long . . . it will fly by.

Just two weeks after the Commonwealth Games, O'Connor will compete in another heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham. She hasn't competed since winning bronze in the pentathlon at the World Indoors in March, making the prospect of winning two more medals in quick succession a significant challenge she relishes.

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I hope I'll be able to do it and the training is definitely pointing in that direction. I've never put myself in a position where I've done two heptathlons so close together, but I've full faith I'll be able to. And we've tailored the training to replicate tough days, close together.

"I hope I'll be able to do it and the training is definitely pointing in that direction," O'Connor stated. Her training regimen has been specifically designed to replicate the demands of competing on consecutive tough days. Despite the close proximity of the two events, she expressed full faith in her ability to handle the workload.

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I'm going there to win

O'Connor acknowledges the pressure that comes with being considered a favorite but embraces it as part of the competition. "It's different this year. I'm going as one of the favourites to win. That's a different pressure, but you can never walk into any championships knowing how you're going to do. You still have to go out and perform," she said. She is determined to win medals in both Glasgow and Birmingham, focusing on her own performance and continuous improvement towards her 2028 ambitions.

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It's different this year. I'm going as one of the favourites to win. That's a different pressure, but you can never walk into any championships knowing how you're going to do. You still have to go out and perform.