Kate O'Connor leads heptathlon at European Championships, Hunt seeks third gold

Ireland's Kate O'Connor moved into the lead in the heptathlon at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Saturday, with only the 800m remaining. O'Connor’s exceptional performance in the long jump and javelin pushed her to the top of the standings, putting her in a strong position to claim gold. Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who is struggling with injuries, has fallen out of medal contention.

Entering the day in third place, O'Connor was just 42 points behind the overnight leader, Poland's Adrianna Sulek-Schubert. She opened with a personal best long jump of 6.55m, followed by a solid javelin throw of 50.16m. These results brought her total score to 5,812 points, giving her a narrow lead of 51 points over the Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel, who scored 5,761 points. Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands currently sits in third place with 5,741 points. Sulek-Schubert's performance declined dramatically, dropping her to seventh place after a disappointing start to the day.

Johnson-Thompson, the two-time world champion, faced continued struggles after a difficult lead-up to the championships. She began the day in 16th place, 324 points off the lead. Her long jump yielded just 5.77m, and her javelin throw reached only 36.92m, resulting in her slipping further down to 19th place, now 780 points behind O'Connor. Meanwhile, her teammate Jade O'Dowda is in 13th place, trailing O'Connor by 491 points.

The heptathlon will conclude on Saturday evening with the 800m event scheduled for 19:45 BST. In other events, Great Britain's Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith are preparing for the women's 4x100m final, where Hunt aims for a third gold medal following her victories in the 100m and 200m races. This event is particularly significant as Asher-Smith seeks to secure her seventh European gold medal. Additionally, race walking records were shattered on Saturday, with Italy's Sofia Fiorini completing the marathon in 3:15:11 and Spain's Maria Perez Garcia finishing the half-marathon in 1:30:06.