There was another celebrated homecoming for Dundalk track star Kate O'Connor today.
The pentathlete arrived back on Irish soil from China this morning, with the World Indoor Championship silver medal around her neck.
She posted three personal bests in the five-discipline event to claim second spot on the podium last week.
It follows on from her bronze at the Europeans earlier in the month.
The 24-year-old says the magnitude of her achievements have yet to sink in.
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"I think it’ll probably take me a couple of weeks just to actually understand what I've just done.
"At the moment, I'm just kind of going with the flow and just, trying to take it in as much as I can.
"But, I think it'll take a little bit of time to actually be like, 'Whoa. I've just done that'."
Ireland's World Indoor pentathlon silver medallist Kate O'Connor said it would "probably take me a couple of weeks to understand what I've just done" as she arrived back in Dublin today. pic.twitter.com/PYntihphet
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 25, 2025
She agrees she is currently in the form of her life.
"It's great. I'm enjoying it and I'm injury free and I hopefully will just keep training hard and win more medals."
For her father, Michael, who is also her coach, it is a rewarding moment. He was at her side on both of her recent medal wins.
"It's fun. It's great to be involved and to help her. I'm so enjoying it and coming away with medals - what she’s done is just extraordinary."
Her mother, Valerie, followed her daughter’s recent successes from their Louth home.
"I’ve had the best two weeks watching my daughter at the Europeans and then the Worlds. I'm looking at her on the television, and to me, she's just Kate. But she's just done such a fantastic thing, I'm so proud, so proud. I can't wait to get her on her own and just have the chats."
For Paul McNamara, the High Performance Director with Athletics Ireland, the silver medal shows athletics here is in good stead.
"We’re on an upward trajectory, have been for quite some time. We are hitting heights we haven’t hit for some time. Again. It's 19 years since we've won a World Indoor medal. This is the first ever combined events medal we've ever won at senior level. There will be more absolutely."
Some time off now lies ahead for Kate O' Connor. It’s been well deserved.
