Kate O\u2019Connor capped a memorable summer on Saturday when she added European gold to her Commonwealth Games triumph<\/p>\n
Kate O'Connor celebrated winning heptathlon gold for Ireland at the European Championships in Birmingham with a "double burger".<\/p>\n
That choice seemed fitting: one burger for each major championship she has won in the past three weeks following on from her success for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n
"It was beautiful, it was stunning, I ate every single bite of it. And yeah, it was bliss," said O'Connor.<\/p>\n
Some of those words could have been used to describe the performances this summer which have lifted the 25-year-old to legendary status in Irish athletics.<\/p>\n
But the Newry-born athlete's thoughts are already turning to the future, including how to better the World Championship silver medal she won behind American Anna Hall into something greater at next year's event in Beijing before the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n
"I've got two titles to my name now, and the next goal is to get a world title and then an Olympic title. That is ultimately the aim," she added.<\/p>\n
"When you put in so much work in behind the scenes, why not tell people what you're aiming for and make everybody else excited?<\/p>\n
"When you know you're capable, I think that there's no harm in saying what you're aiming for.<\/p>\n
"But it's going to take those points here and there and everywhere. Those centimetres across all the events."<\/p>\n
Ireland's O'Connor secures heptathlon European gold<\/p>\n
'It was mine to lose' – O'Connor wins heptathlon gold<\/p>\n
While O'Connor's ascension over the past two years has been one of the standout stories in Irish athletics, she insists she must "come on leaps and bounds" to take the most coveted titles in her discipline.<\/p>\n
"People are going to be nipping at my toes and I think that Anna is probably still the person that is just sitting out there a little bit in front," she said.<\/p>\n
"It's how can I get closer to her to be putting her under pressure?<\/p>\n