KATE EXPECTATIONS

Dundalk athlete O'Connor ready to shoot for the stars in today’s Heptathlon finale

- BY OISIN DOHERTY

KATE O'CONNOR was the pick of the Irish athletes at the World Championship yesterday, notching three personal bests in the heptathlon as she surged into medal contention.

The Dundalk native produced best ever performances the 100m hurdles, high-jump and 200m, before holding her own in the shot-put to end the first day in second place on 3,906 points.

The long-jump, javelin throw and 800m will all be held today, with American Anna Hall holding the overnight lead on 4,154 points.

This has already been an amazing year for the Louth woman, who took bronze at the European Championships and silver at the World outdoor championships, and she took that fine form into her Tokyo assignement yesterday.

O'Connor (24) clocked 13.44 seconds in the hurdles, before clearing 1.86m in the high-jump.