Irish Athletics waited 19 years for a world indoor medal and then two arrive in two years thanks to one woman, Dundalk's Kate O'Connor.
On the 20-year anniversary of Derval O'Rourke's gold in Moscow in 2006, O'Connor claimed her third global medal in 366 days, winning bronze in the women's pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland on Saturday evening, breaking her own Irish record in the process.
The 25-year-old is now the first Irishwoman to win more than one medal at the championships, and only Sonia O'Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan have won more individual global medals for Ireland.
O'Connor had just one competition under her belt before this championships, managing big personal bests in both the 60m hurdles and the long jump at the national indoors at the start of March.
After that performance, fans and the Irish media were excited, with the improvements made in those events, challenging for gold was a real possibility.
O'Connor admitted there were some tinges of disappointment with her bronze medal in Poland but explained she has been using some positive self-talk to put the achievement into perspective.
"Is it awful that I'm a little bit disappointed in myself? I mean, I came here and I wanted to win the gold... I have to check myself a little bit and say, 'come on, Kate, you just did a national record there. You scored around 100 points more than you did last year, and you come away with another global medal'," O'Connor told Greg Allen from RTÉ Sport.
Kate O'Connor told @gregallenRTE she was 'proud' of her World Indoor bronze medal despite feeling disappointed and revealed knee and achilles injuries troubled the last few weeks of her preparations for Poland.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 22, 2026
Read more here: https://t.co/nPQP5i4fW6 pic.twitter.com/xDRoJ7caXP
The 25-year-old revealed that since those personal bests in the national indoor arena things haven't gone to plan, and that the new-found expectation was difficult to deal with given the circumstances.
"I had a tough couple of weeks since national indoors. I have had a few health issues and a few niggles here and there, so really training hasn't been going all that well.
"There's a lot of pressure then when you see the media stuff that's being written. And I came in here and I knew that people were expecting me and hoping that I would get a medal.
"That wasn't really anything that I had to deal with last year, even though I had showed good potential, people weren't really expecting.
"I think I carried myself really well today, and I dealt with a lot of things behind the scenes that were pretty tough. I have to be proud of what I did."
O'Connor injured her knee during the long jump at the World Championships in Tokyo but continued her competition to win silver.
She explained that the injury cropped up again on the day the team for Torun was announced, and at one stage her participation in these championships were uncertain.
"I actually had a bit of a knee issue, the same knee that I hurt in Tokyo. I have a defect in my knee from Tokyo now, and it hasn't really affected me for the last six months.
"Literally two weeks ago, whenever the team was announced to the day... I had a little issue, and ultimately I actually wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come.
"So it was really awkward whenever the team was announced, and... I can't really walk right now. So I was kind of quiet for a week. But I got myself back on track, and then the Achilles thing cropped up, and it was just kind of like a lot of things coming in."
It was a mixed day for the four-time medallist but she managed personal bests in the shot put and 800m events.
In a day of ups and downs, O'Connor said she took pride in how she responded to her first‑round long‑jump failure.
"I was wanting a lot more there. But a few events I was really, really happy with, like long jump. I think that I dealt with the pressure there really, really well after failing that first attempt.
"I managed to get a really good jump in on my final jump. And then with that 800, I had a really tough challenge... I tried to just go out and just run as hard as I could."
O'Connor equalled the 1.81m height she cleared in Nanjing last year, but explained challenges with her run up and body both potentially impacted on her ability to progress in the event.
"High jump was tough enough. I'd been dealing with a little bit of an Achilles issue, and I kind of was more thinking about that rather than actual high jumping.
"I couldn't actually put my mark out because it was in the middle of the long jump runway, so I had to mark out each time before I'd go and jump. And there was just stuff like that going on. I slipped on some cables in one of the attempts.
"I tried to keep as composed as I possibly could. I was so close to that 18.4m in my third attempt, and really I should be getting over those heights. So I was disappointed with myself there."
O'Connor added she felt seeing family's delight in her achievements may help to boost her mood, after she explained, she ultimately fell short of the goal she set herself.
"I am proud. I don't know why. I need to up my mood a little bit here, but... I wanted the gold, and I came away with the bronze.
"I think that whenever I go and see my family and see how happy they are for me, it'll kind of set in what I've done. And I know that what I've done is amazing. But yeah, I'm competitive, and I want more. And I think it's a great thing that I want more."
