Kate O’Connor smashes Irish indoor pentathlon record as Brian Fay runs fastest mile by Irishman since 2000

Kate O'Connor

Cathal Dennehy

January 29 2023 07:58 PM

Kate O’Connor got her year off to a flying start by obliterating the Irish indoor pentathlon record with a tally of 4.396 points in Clermont, France, on Sunday.

The Dundalk multi-event star, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist last year, finished third among an international field and added 182 points to the previous record, set by Grace McKenzie in 2019.

“It’s nice to be healthy, back out competing with world-class girls,” O’Connor told Decathletes of Europe.

“I had a rough end to the season (in 2022), not being able to compete at Europeans, but I’ve been training hard and I really came out here to have fun and see where I was at, and I managed to pull out a national record. We have more pentathlons planned; I can definitely get better.”

In Seattle on Friday night, Brian Fay produced the standout track performance of the weekend, the 24-year-old Dubliner clocking a 3:52.03 mile on an oversized indoor track.

It made him the sixth fastest Irishman in history, and was the quickest mile by an Irish athlete, indoors or out, since 2000.

Fay, a final-year student at the University of Washington, finished a close second in the race which saw an astonishing seven of his college teammates crack the four-minute barrier.

In Manchester on Saturday, teenage star Nick Griggs continued his destruction of the Irish underage record books, finishing fifth over 3000m to lower his own Irish U-20 record to 7:54.44.

Thomas Barr opened his season at the same event, clocking 48.13 to finish third in the 400m.

Sarah Lavin continued her fine start to the season with an 8.08 clocking in the 60m hurdles to back up last week’s 8.02 in Denmark. Israel Olatunde was back on track in Lyon, Ireland’s fastest man clocking 6.67 to finish second over 60m.

Andrew Coscoran was in action in Boston on Friday, clocking 2:19.25 to take victory over 1000m to go second on Irish all-time indoor list behind Luke McCann’s 2:17.40. On Saturday in New York, McCann took victory over 1000m in 2:19.31.

At the same event Roisin Flanagan moved fourth on the Irish women’s indoor 3000m all-time list by clocking 8:53.53 to finish fourth.

In Sweden, Mark English opened his season with a second-place finish over 800m, clocking 1:47.62 to finish behind Sweden’s Andreas Kramer (1:45.90).

At the AAI Indoor Games in Athlone yesterday, Leevale teammates Lucy-May Sleeman (Leevale AC) and Joan Healy (Leevale AC) once again lit up the sprints, with both posting 7.35 in a thrilling 60m race.

The time ranked as a lifetime best for Sleeman and moved the 18-year-old into the top 10 on the Irish all-time list. Saoirse Fitzgerald clocked an Irish U-18 indoor 800m record of 2:08.76.

In Germany, Eric Favors threw 19.92m in the shot put, just off his recent Irish indoor record of 19.99m.