Northern Ireland's Kate O'Connor leads the Commonwealth Games heptathlon in Glasgow after four events, holding a 49-point advantage over England's Jade O'Dowda. O'Connor was third in the 100m hurdles behind Canada's Sienna Macdonald and O'Dowda, took the lead with a 1.82m high jump, managed only fifth in the shot put in torrential rain, then dominated her 200m heat in 24.14 seconds to rebuild the margin. England's Niamh Emerson sits fourth and Australia's Mia Scerri is a distant third; Anna McCauley of Northern Ireland is sixth and within 39 points of a bronze after a 12.13m shot put and a 200m heat win. Katarina Johnson-Thompson withdrew on the eve of the Games, leaving O'Connor and O'Dowda as the principal contenders for a first new Commonwealth heptathlon champion in eight years. The heptathlon concludes on Wednesday with the long jump, javelin and 800m, leaving O'Connor three events from a potential first Games gold after her silver in Birmingham in 2022.
