O'Connor leads heptathlon before final event

O'Connor threw 50.16m with the javelin [Getty Images] Ireland's Kate O'Connor is in pole position for heptathlon gold with one event remaining at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, but Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson finds herself out of contention. Newry-born O'Connor entered Saturday morning in third place after four events on Friday, 42 points behind overnight leader Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, but her personal best form continued in the long jump with an initial effort of 6.55m. The 25-year-old Commonwealth Games' gold medallist followed up with 50.16 in the javelin to take her overall total to 5812 points, 51 ahead of Netherlands' Emma Oosterwegel [5761] with another Dutch athlete, Sofie Dokter [5741] in third. Poland's Sulek-Schubert dropped to seventh after a disappointment start to Saturday. Johnson-Thompson's struggles continued following an injury-hit build-up. The 33-year-old world bronze medallist entered Saturday 324 points off the pace in 16th, but managed just 5.77m in the long jump before throwing 36.92 with the javelin which saw her drop to 19th, 780 points behind O'Connor. Her GB team-mate Jade O'Dowda is in 13th, 491 points in arrears of the Irish athlete. The heptathlon concludes on Saturday evening with with the 800m at 19:45 BST. Meanwhile, Sarah Healy and Sophie O'Sullivan are through to the final of the women's 1500m but Jodie McCann missed out. Both of Ireland's 4x100m relay teams are through to their respective finals with fourth place enough for both the men's and women's teams to advance as fastest qualifiers. The women's final takes place at 21:33 BST on Saturday, with the men's race following at 21:48. Also in final action for Ireland on Saturday is Jacl O'Leary who goies in the 10,000m at 20:25, while Andrew Coscoran races in the 1500m at 21:07.