Kate O'Connor won the heptathlon gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday, becoming the first Northern Irish athlete to claim a multi-event title at the Games since Dame Mary Peters won the pentathlon in 1974.

The 24-year-old from Newry sealed victory across two days of competition at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, finishing with a 258-point lead over the field before the final event, the 800m (BBC Sport).

The heptathlon — seven events spread across two days testing speed, strength, jumping and endurance — saw O'Connor take command from the opening session. She clocked 13.54 seconds in the 100m hurdles, cleared 1.82m in the high jump for a season's best, put the shot 12.85m, and ran 24.14 seconds in the 200m, another season's best. Those four events gave her 3,731 points overnight and a 49-point cushion over England's Jade O'Dowda (BBC Sport).

The shot put gave her trouble. "I tried to not let it annoy me or shake me, but it did," O'Connor said of the event (Irish News). The frustration was brief. By the time the athletes toed the line for the 800m, O'Connor's lead had grown to 258 points — a margin that made the result a formality.

Her gold medal ceremony was scheduled for Thursday at 18:30 BST (BBC Sport).

O'Connor's path to Glasgow had been building for some time. She won heptathlon gold at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, in 2025, and finished 14th in the event at the Olympic Games representing Team Ireland. She also represented Ireland at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (BBC Sport; RTÉ Sport). At these Commonwealth Games, she represented Northern Ireland, competing alongside teammates including gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and swimmer Daniel Wiffen (Irish Times).

England's Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who beat O'Connor to gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with 6,377 points, withdrew from this year's event before competition began (BBC Sport). Northern Ireland teammate Anna McCauley finished eighth in the final standings.

O'Connor is coached by her father, Michael O'Connor (BBC Sport). The family partnership now sits alongside a record that had stood for 52 years. Mary Peters, who won Olympic pentathlon gold in 1972, took the Commonwealth title two years later. Her name has echoed through Northern Irish athletics ever since. O'Connor's performance gives the province a new multi-event champion to celebrate.