Kate O'Connor wins bronze in pentathlon at World Indoor Championships

Michael Bolton

Kate O'Connor has won the bronze medal in the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships after a great finish at the 800m final event.

The Dundalk star finished in second place in that race to secure her place on the podium.

She achieved her indoor personal best of 2:10:26.

Earlier on Sunday, she finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with her time of 8.23, clocking just outside her lifetime best of 8.21.

She then finished fourth in the high jump with a 1.81m clearance, which saw her needing a third attempt after she aborted her initial jump, slipping on the mat.

In the shot put, she threw a personal best of 14.70m, leaving her third on 2909 points going into the evening session.

In the long jump, she leapt to 6.38m, and moved up to second place, moving ahead of USA's Anna Hall.

Meanwhile, Sarah Lavin turned in an off-colour performance in the heats of the women’s 60m hurdles, the two-time world indoor finalist finishing fifth in 8.08, well down on her season’s best of 7.98. It wasn’t enough to advance to the semi-final.

“I'm lost for words, and I wish I could tell you exactly what happened,” she said.

“I had a very good warm-up. There's nothing that signalled that I might give a performance like that. I don't know if I've come to a championship and gone out the first round ever. I'm incredibly disappointed.”