Sander Skotheim of Norway and Kate O’Connor of Ireland and Northern Ireland set European and Irish multi-sport records on Sunday.

Sander Skotheim’s European record

Sander Skotheim the European indoor and outdoor silver medallist broke the European heptathlon record at the Tallinn Combined Events meet Sunday.

In the 1000m event, Skotheim ran a 2:37.85 performance which gave him 6484 points to better Kevin Mayer’s European record set in 2017. He is now fifth in the world.

The 22-year-old Norwegian had a terrific pole vault reaching 5.25m.

Skotheim is a European Championships silver medallist in the decathlon. He is also the World Indoor Championships and European Indoor Championships silver medallist in the heptathlon. He competed in the decathlon event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In June he set his current decathlon personal best at 8635 points in Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

The next event for Skotheim is the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships on March 6-9. However, he will compete in individual events at next weekend’s Nordic Indoor Match and at the Norwegian Indoor Championships. 

Kate O’Connor’s pentathlon

Irish athlete Kate O’Connor recorded nothing but personal bests at the Tallinn Combined Events at Tallinna Kergejõustikuhall, Tallinn, Estonia.

She earned a total of 4685 points to take silver to Saga Vanninen with her 4843 points. O’Connor improved her own Irish record set two years prior.

The 24-year-old, began with a 60m hurdles personal best (tie) clocking 8.37 seconds. She set a PB in the high jump with a 1.82m jump. O’Connor then put the shot to 14.42m which is her new indoor PB.

She did just as well in the long jump, landing at 6.16m. She then finished the day with a 2:13.60 run in the 800m event. With the PB performance, she is now qualified for the European Championships.

O’Connor is the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medallist.

She competed in the NCAA for the University of Texas at Austin. The Irish and Northern Irish athlete lives in Newry, Northern Ireland but her hometown is Dundalk halfway between Belfast and Dublin, near the border.

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