Rarely has any athlete of the year award gone to a more satisfied winner than Kate O’Connor. Her four medals, from her four championship appearances, all made Irish multi-event history, and O’Connor is already hungry for more.
After a record year for the sport on several other fronts – 21 international medals won so far – O’Connor was in good company at the 2025 Athletics Ireland awards in Dublin on Wednesday afternoon. However, her success was unparalleled, becoming just the sixth Irish athlete to win a World Championship medal outdoors with her heptathlon silver in Tokyo in September.
Cian McPhillips was named track athlete of the year after his sensational breakthrough in the 800m event, taking the Irish record down to 1:42.15 when finishing a close fourth in Tokyo. McPhillips also picked up the inspirational performance on Irish soil award for his 800m win at the Morton Games.
Fionnuala McCormack was named endurance athlete of the year after her ninth-place finish in the marathon at the World Championships, coming just seven weeks before she finished 10th in the New York City Marathon.
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For O’Connor, who turns 25 next month, her silver medal heroics in Japan completed a perfect medal score of four-from-four from each of her championship outings, each time improving her own Irish record. It started with her breakthrough performance in the five-event indoor pentathlon back in March, which she followed 12 days later with bronze at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn before upgrading to silver at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.
They were the first senior medals won by any Irish athlete in a multi-event, but one more was yet to come. O’Connor made another breakthrough in the seven-event heptathlon, winning gold at the World University Games in Germany in July, where she improved her Irish record to 6,487 points.
After improving that record again to 6,714 points in Tokyo, setting personal bests in five of the seven events, the Dundalk athlete has already raised the bar significantly going into 2026. On the agenda next year are the World Indoor Championships in Poland in March and the European Championships in Birmingham in August.
The Commonwealth Games will also be stage in Glasgow at the end of July, at which the Newry-born O’Connor will represent Northern Ireland, having already won heptathlon silver in 2022.
O’Connor – who is coached by her father Michael – also knows it won’t be long until people start talking about the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. In Paris, O’Connor became Ireland’s first representative in the Olympic heptathlon, finishing 14th.
Going into the last of the seven events in Tokyo, the 800m, O’Connor only needed to run close to her personal best of 2:10.46 to seal the silver medal. Despite nursing a knee injury sustained in the long jump earlier in the day, she once again improved her lifetime best to 2:09.56.
The 21 international medals won by Irish athletes so far in 2025 also includes Conor Kelly’s gold in the 400m at the European Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, where the 18-year-old again improved his Irish under-20 record to 45.83 seconds.
Kelly was duly named under-20 athlete of the year, while the under-23 award went to Nicola Tuthill, whose hammer medal haul this year included silver at the World University Games and European Under-23 Championships, plus gold at the European Throwing Cup under-23 event. Tuthill also twice broke the Irish under-23 hammer record.
The awards also saw Derval O’Rourke inducted into the Irish Athletics Hall of Fame. The Cork athlete won five championship medals over the course of her career, including gold at the 2006 World Indoor Championships, and was the first Irish woman to medal in the sprint hurdles.
Joe Doonan received the award for services to coaching, having guided Catherina McKiernan to four successive silver medals in the World Cross-Country Championships, as well as victories in the Berlin, London and Amsterdam marathons.
World champions Greta Streimikyte and Orla Comerford also received special acknowledgment following their outstanding 2025 seasons, both brining home gold from the World Para Athletics Championships.
Athletics Ireland Awards 2025
Athlete of the Year: Kate O’Connor
Track Athlete of the Year: Cian McPhillips
Field/Multi Event Athlete of the Year: Kate O’Connor
Endurance Athlete of the Year: Fionnuala McCormack
Under 20 Athlete of the Year: Conor Kelly
Under 23 Athlete of the Year: Nicola Tuthill
Team of the Year: Men’s 4x100m Relay (Michael Farrelly, Sean Aigboboh, Marcus Lawler, Israel Olatunde, Bori Akinola)
Inspirational Performance on Irish Soil: Cian McPhillips (Morton Games)
Hall of Fame: Derval O’Rourke
Lifetime Services to Athletics: Cyril Smyth
Special Recognition Award: Dick Hooper
Performance Club of the Year: Dundrum South Dublin AC
Services to Coaching: Joe Doonan
Official of the Year: Declan Curtin
Development Club of the Year: Moy Valley AC
Mountain Runner of the Year: Brian Mullins
Masters Athlete of the Year: Edel Maguire
Ultra Runner of the Year: Caitriona Jennings
Schools’ Athlete of the Year: Sean Doggett
University Athlete of the Year: Laura Frawley
