O'Connor tops heptathlon standings in Birmingham with one event to go; Hunt chases third gold

Ireland's Kate O'Connor leads the heptathlon with one event remaining at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Saturday after strong long jump and javelin efforts, while Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson is out of contention.

O'Connor, 25, who is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, had been in third place after Friday's four events, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, but produced an opening long jump of 6.55m and followed with a javelin throw of 50.16m to move into first. Those performances took her overall total to 5812 points, 51 clear of the Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel on 5761, with Sofie Dokter a further 20 points adrift on 5741; Sulek-Schubert slipped to seventh after a difficult start to Saturday.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson's problems continued following an injury-hit build-up: the 33-year-old world bronze medallist began Saturday 324 points off the lead in 16th, recorded 5.77m in the long jump and threw 36.92m in the javelin, falling to 19th and 780 points behind O'Connor. Her British team-mate Jade O'Dowda sits 13th, 491 points adrift of the Irish athlete.

The heptathlon will be decided on Saturday evening when the final event, the 800m, is held at 19:45 BST.

In the women's 1500m semi-finals, Great Britain's Georgia Hunter-Bell won heat two in 4:08.97 with Poland's Klaudia Kazimierska second and Portugal's Salome Alfonso third; Ireland's Jodie McCann finished 13th in that heat and did not qualify. From heat one, Ireland's Sarah Healy and Sophie O'Sullivan advanced to the final, finishing second (4:08.12) and fifth (4:08.88) respectively.

Both Great Britain and Ireland will contest Saturday's 4x100m men's and women's finals, and the women's race at 21:33 BST features Britain's Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith aiming for record-equalling medals. Hunt is bidding for a third gold in Birmingham after victories in the 100m and 200m, while Asher-Smith is seeking a seventh European gold overall.

Racewalking world records were broken on Saturday as Italy's Sofia Fiorini completed the marathon in 3:15:11.00 and Spain's Maria Perez Garcia finished the half marathon in 1:30:06.00.

The concluding schedule sees the heptathlon settled by the 800m at 19:45 BST and the women's 4x100m final, featuring Hunt and Asher-Smith, set for 21:33 BST.