European Indoor Championships: Kate O'Connor finishes ninth in pentathlon

Kate O'Connor won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Kate O'Connor finished in ninth place in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul.

The Commonwealth Games heptathlon silver medallist was in seventh spot going into the concluding 800m.

However, her 800m time of 2:20.08 - just over three seconds outside her personal best - saw her drop to ninth.

The 22-year-old's points total of 4353 was 43 below the Irish record she set back in January.

The Irish athlete was 12th overall in the opening 60m hurdles with a time of 8.64 seconds and eighth in the high jump after clearing 1.74m at the third attempt.

However, a personal best 14.37m in the shot put and a strong long jump distance of 5.91m saw her move up to seventh going into the final event.

Belgium's double Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam took victory in a new world record of 5055, with Poland's silver medallist Adrianna Sulek also one point above the previous global mark set by Ukraine's Nataliya Dobrynska in 2012 as she tallied 5014 helped by a sensational concluding 800m.

Another Belgian, Noor Vidts, secured bronze with 4823 points.

Ireland's Luke McCann finished a disappointing 10th in the men's 1500m.

McCann, who clocked a personal best of 3:34.76 in Birmingham last weekend, was unable to stay with the early pace set by Olympic champion Jacob Ingebrigtsen and his effort to get back in touch on the third lap as he led the chasing pack seemed to drain the energy from him in the closing stages as he crossed the line in 3:44.55.

Ingebrigtsen held off a strong challenge from in-form Briton Neil Gourley (3:34.23) to win in a championship record of 3:33.95 with France's Azeddine Habz earning bronze in 3:35.39.

Ireland's Sharlene Mawdsley missed out on a place in the women's 400m final after finishing sixth and last in her semi-final.

The Tipperary athlete clocked 52.59 second in the morning heats which left her as sixth-fastest qualifier for the semi-finals but could only produce 53.57 in her evening race - well outside her personal best of 51.91 set earlier this year.

There was disappointment for another Irish competitor Sophie Becker in the morning heats, as her third-place finish in 53.43 seconds was not enough to see her progress, with Cliodhna Manning also exciting despite clocking a personal best of 54.21 in her qualifier.

In the 60m heats, Joan Healy missed out on a place in the semi-finals after finishing fifth in her heat in a time of 7.41.