Kate O'Connor upgraded her bronze from the European indoors to a silver at the worlds, after a scintillating performance across all five events in Nanjing, China.
The Dundalk athlete remarkably recorded personal bests in three events, the 60m hurdles (8.30), the shot putt (14.64m) and the long jump (6.32m).
She produced an impressive 1.81m leap in the high jump before sealing the deal with another brave and courageous run in the final event, the 800m, finishing in third in the race.
O'Connor was third outright before the 800m but surpassed Taliyah Brooks with her time of 2.14.19 in the final event of the day, leading her to the silver medal.
Finnish athlete Saga Vanninen comfortably won the gold medal with 4821 points, with O'Connor next best on 4742 ahead of USA athlete Brooks in third on 4669.
"She ran a really gutsy 800m when she needed to.
"It's great to see her progression. How quickly she has progressed has been inspiring," said former Olympic heptathlon Champion Jessica Ennis Hill.
It led to Ireland's first world indoor medal since 2006, when Derval O'Rourke won gold in the 60m hurdles in Moscow.
It's been a breakthrough fortnight for the 24-year-old O'Connor, winning two major championship medals in succession.
21 March 2025; Kate O'Connor of Ireland competes in the 60m hurdles event of the women's pentathlon during day one of the World Indoor Athletics Championships at Nanjing's Cube Gymnasium at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park in Nanjing, China. Photo by Sportsfile
Her success in Apeldoorn signalled her significant rise to prominence and she was even better again in China, improving her marks many of the events.
She set PBs overnight in the shot-putt and the 60m hurdles before confidently keeping herself in the mix with a fine performance in the long jump, where she set PBs in her opening two jumps.
6.32m was her final mark, making for an improvement of 5cm on her jump from a fortnight ago.
It's another proud moment for O'Connor and her dad Michael who doubles as her coach, as well as her home athletics club St Gerard's in Dundalk.
Ireland's Derval O'Rourke with her gold medal after victory in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships, Moscow. Picture credit: Mark Shearman / SPORTSFILE
Speaking to Cathal Dennehy after securing the silver, O'Connor admitted it was 'really tough' to rise it again after the high of the European indoors less than two weeks ago.
O'Connor's impressive 800m was again crucial and though it was 'nerve-wracking' at the start, she says it's great to have something to fight for up until the last event of the week.
“I’m getting fond of chasing girls down and beating them in the 800m," she said afterwards.
“How much do you want this medal?” she asked herself, as she ran the four laps of the track at the end of an exhausting day.
"Although it’s really nerve-wracking on the line, it’s nice to have something to fight for in the (800m) and it makes the medal even sweeter.
"I kept an eye on her for 500 metres and then I didn’t look back, I just was running for the line.”
The plan was to track the American girl and then go out and beat her. I was half watching the board to see where she was; she dropped back a little bit and so I had to dig in.
"I was running that last lap and was asking myself: how much do you want this medal? I wanted it a lot. I really dug in and deep as I could and managed to pinch it."
