Six athletics related nominations have been announced for the upcoming Olympic Sports Awards which take place on Saturday November 28^th in Dublin.

They are as follows:

• Kate O’Connor – Female Athlete of the Year
• Mark English – Male Athlete of the Year
• Michael O’Connor – Coach of the Year
• Ballymun Athletics Club – Community Impact Award
• Athletics Ireland – High Performance Programme of the Year
• Sam Barnes (Sportsfile), Kate O’Connor in the High Jump – Image of the Year

Athletics Ireland congratulates the nominees and encourages our community to vote in the awards HERE.

Voting is open until Sunday November 15^th.

A further description of the athletics nominees can be found below:

Female Athlete of the Year:

Kate O’Connor

Kate O’Connor won three major championship medals in 2026. She took European heptathlon gold in Birmingham with 6,751 points, Commonwealth heptathlon gold for Northern Ireland in Glasgow, and World Indoor pentathlon bronze in Poland, setting a national record of 4,839. Her Birmingham score was higher than her national record but does not count for record purposes because of wind readings.

Her European title made her only the fourth Irish athlete to win a European outdoor title, and the fifth Irish woman to win an individual European medal. Her World Indoor bronze made her the first Irishwoman to win two World Indoor medals. Only Sonia O’Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan have won more individual global senior medals for Ireland.

She has now medalled at seven successive championships, a run that includes 2025 world outdoor silver. She won the Commonwealth and European titles less than three weeks apart, a gruelling double in one of the most demanding events in athletics.

Coached by her father, Michael, Kate is one of the most consistent championship performers in Irish sport.

Male Athlete of the Year:

Mark English

Mark English won European 800m gold in Birmingham in August 2026, becoming the first Irish man to win a European outdoor title in any event. He broke the 48-year-old championship record in his semi-final. It came after a series of five silver and bronze medals.

His season was the best of a long career. In May he won the Shanghai Diamond League in a meeting record of 1:43.85, the first Irish man to win a Diamond League race. He was second in Rome and second in London, where he broke 1:43 for the first time with 1:42.97. In September he finished sixth in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship final in Budapest, improving his personal best again to 1:42.78.

At 33, Mark produced career-best performances in one of the most competitive events in athletics. His European title, achieved after more than a decade at the top, is among the most historic results in Irish athletics.

Coach of the Year:

Michael O’Connor

Michael O’Connor coached Kate O’Connor through a season that brought three major championship medals: European heptathlon gold in Birmingham, Commonwealth heptathlon gold in Glasgow and World Indoor pentathlon bronze in Poland, where she set a national record of 4,839. Kate has now medalled at seven successive championships.

Michael, Kate’s father, received the 2025 World Athletics Coaching Achievement Award in November 2025, after Athletics Ireland nominated him. The award recognised his lifelong commitment to developing coaching at every level, and Kate’s 2025 results, which included world outdoor silver and a world number two ranking in both heptathlon and pentathlon.

With more than 20 years as a lead coach in the multi-events, Michael has guided Kate to a run of results that has made her one of the most consistent championship performers in Irish sport. She is only the fourth Irish athlete to win a European outdoor title and the first Irishwoman to win two World Indoor medals. Managing the Commonwealth and European double in less than three weeks, in one of the most demanding events in athletics, shows the quality of his planning and his well-rounded approach.

Community Impact Award:

Ballymun Athletics Club

Ballymun Athletics Club removes one of the biggest barriers to sport: cost. Founded in 2022 on the principle that no child should miss out on athletics because of their family’s finances, it is believed to be the only Athletics Ireland-affiliated club in the country offering completely free participation to juvenile athletes. Registration, insurance, club gear, coaching and competition fees are all covered.

The model is sustained by the club’s own community. Adult members’ fees fund the juniors, with the aim that every adult who joins enables a child to take part free of charge. Rather than relying on families being able to pay, the whole club shares responsibility for making participation possible.

Research published in September 2026 found that 51% of parents had decided not to enrol a child in a sport because of the cost, and 80% said children’s sport put financial pressure on their household.

In an area where financial disadvantage can limit opportunity, Ballymun AC gives young people a place to build fitness, friendships and confidence, and to represent their community at local, regional and national level. Removing fees has not meant lowering ambition.

The club also shares its experience publicly, encouraging other clubs to consider how they can reduce or remove financial barriers. Its aim is not to remain an exception but to show clubs across Ireland that a child’s postcode or household income need not decide how far they can go in sport.

High Performance Programme of the Year:

Athletics Ireland

Athletics Ireland’s high performance programme won four medals at the European Championships in Birmingham in August 2026. Mark English (800m) and Kate O’Connor (heptathlon) won gold, Rhasidat Adeleke won 200m silver in a national record and Andrew Coscoran won 1500m bronze. English became the first Irish man to win a European outdoor title, and Adeleke won Ireland’s first ever European 200m medal.

The success ran through the season. O’Connor won World Indoor pentathlon bronze in a national record, and Commonwealth gold for Northern Ireland. English became the first Irish man to win a Diamond League race, and broke 1:43 for 800m. Peter Lynch became the first Irishman under 60 minutes for the half marathon, with 59:52, and set an Irish marathon record of 2:06:08 in London. Nicola Tuthill won silver at the European Throwing Cup.

The pathway is producing results too. At the European U18 Championships, Lucie Cawley won steeplechase silver in an Irish U18 record and Ireland’s first ever medal in the event, Emma Hickey won 1500m silver and Isabelle Gaffney won 800m bronze. Across championships, Diamond League, road and underage competition, Athletics Ireland’s high performance programme is producing medals at every level.

Image of the Year:

Sam Barnes (Sportsfile) – Kate O’Connor – High Jump

Kate O’Connor celebrates clearing 1.86m in the High Jump on her way to European heptathlon gold in Birmingham in August 2026. The raw passion on her face shows exactly what the moment meant to her.

Vote HERE.