One player in the Carlisle United squad will be paying closer attention to the Olympic Games than the rest today.

That's because striker Georgie Kelly's partner, Kate O'Connor, is competing in the women's heptathlon at Paris 2024.

O'Connor, the Irish heptathlon record holder, launched her bid for success this morning.

As she did so, the Dundalk athlete made history as the first ever Irish athlete to compete in the heptathlon at an Olympic Games.

First up she raced in the 100m hurdles, where she was involved in heat one in the Stade de France.

O'Connor, 23, finished seventh in a time of 14.08 seconds, earning her 967 points, which left her 22nd overall in the early standings.

United's Georgie KellyUnited's Georgie Kelly (Image: Ben Holmes)

She was up against Team GB's medal hope Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who came second in a season's best time of 13.40, with another British athlete, Jade O'Dowda third behind winner Adrianna Sulek-Schubert of Poland.

O'Connor then competed in the high jump, where she produced an impressive season's best leap of 1.77m in her third attempt to move up to 19th overall with another 941 points.

The shot put and 200m follow this evening. Friday then sees the long jump, javelin and 800m in the seven-discipline event.

Newry-born O'Connor is one of the leading lights in Irish athletics, having competed in the last two Commonwealth Games and winning silver in Birmingham 2022 behind Johnson-Thompson, having finished eighth in 2018 aged just 17,

O'Connor, who broke the national heptathlon record in her teens, finished 13th in last year's World Championships.

She has now bounced back from the injury that ended her hopes of making the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 in order to compete in Paris.