Jadin O’Brien’s Olympic quest continues with national title
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (BVM) – Over the past few years, Jadin O’Brien has proven to be one of the best track and field athletes in the entire country. While competing in the pentathlon, the Notre Dame standout has found plenty of success. However, it hasn’t come without hard work, focus, and overcoming some adversity.
As a freshman, O’Brien burst onto the scene for the Irish, earning a fourth-place finish in the pentathlon at the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships with a program-record score of 4,296 points.
In 2022, O’Brien was poised for even greater success in her second year in South Bend. Yet, with all she had accomplished as a freshman, including competing in the Olympic trials where she finished 12th out of 18 competitors, O’Brien felt added pressure to perform.
Congrats to Jadin O'Brien on finishing 12th in the heptathlon at the US Olympic Trials with 5,671 points! She finished it off by placing 3rd in the 800m (2:12.34)!#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/lWFaqAucSd
— Notre Dame XC/TF (@NDXCTF) June 28, 2021
“I was a little anxious,” O’Brien said. “I think more of the pressure came from myself … Once I had my first meet, once I broke the mold, then things just fell into place. I think from freshman year to sophomore year I matured a lot.”
That maturation showed throughout the season. Continuing to grow while learning the subtleties of the elements that make up the pentathlon – which she had not formally competed in until she got to college – O’Brien achieved a first-place finish at the ACC indoor championships.
“That was awesome,” O’Brien said. “I came in with low expectations into the ACC meet. I knew I was really good, but I didn’t know how good I could be. Winning ACCs, I elevated myself in a way, in the eyes of the NCAA, but also just in myself.”
Ranked No. 3 in the nation in the pentathlon, O’Brien headed into the 2022 indoor national championships poised to take home a title. However, adversity struck again.
After competing in the 2021 event with a torn quad, O’Brien came into the 2022 event healthy until getting food poisoning less than 24 hours before competition.
“It was a mental challenge, it was huge for me,” O’Brien said. “And a physical challenge, obviously. But I wasn’t going to let food poisoning stop me from competing well at nationals. That’s not going to happen.”
After being sick throughout the night, O’Brien had difficulty just sitting up in her bed by morning. She made her way to the track, but two laps into her typical five-lap warmup, she felt on the verge of passing out. Remarkably, the Notre Dame track star made it through, and was able to match her fourth-place finish from the year prior.
“It was a very physically challenging meet,” O’Brien said. “I overcame it, I pushed through it. The meet itself didn’t go great, but I was able to push through it and get fourth place. I’m very proud of myself for just persevering and not letting the situation that I was in impact me the way it could have.”
Coming off the indoor season, O’Brien faced another challenge. This time, it was deciding to redshirt for her outdoor season. Despite being healthy, O’Brien and her coaches decided on a plan of action to have O’Brien sit her second outdoor season in order to be eligible for a fifth-year down the road, helping her to be able to train longer at Notre Dame for her professional goals.
“In the moment, it was really, really tough,” O’Brien said. “I wasn’t injured. I was coming off a great indoor season last season. It was really hard mentally. I kept thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to get back? Am I going to be as good as I was?’ There were a lot of things that kept going in my head through that redshirt season.
“It was for the best because I trained my butt off during that time, I got a lot stronger and it paid off this indoor season.”
After sitting out the 2022 outdoor season, O’Brien was predictably eager to get back this year. With her continued development, she also set a lofty, yet realistic goal for herself.
“When I say I was hungry, I was so hungry, I was ready to go,” O’Brien said. “I told my coach at the beginning of the season, and actually, I told my parents earlier, ‘I want a national title. I think I can do this. I want that and I’m going to work for it.’
“I dedicated myself to becoming a national champion. I knew I had it in me, I wanted that. I was done with taking fourth place at nationals.”
Throughout the season, O’Brien shined. Continuing to develop within the pentathlon event while also gaining a sense of her “why” in the sport, the third-year Notre Dame athlete was not only more prepared physically, but had a stronger mental approach that helped her succeed.
“I’d say there was a lot of growth, physically, but also mentally from my freshman year to now,” O’Brien mentioned. “I’m a lot stronger than I was, I’m a lot faster, and I’m a lot more experienced with the sport itself.”
By the time O’Brien reached the 2023 ACC indoor championships, she entered the meet as a clear favorite for back-to-back titles. While a little pressure might have creeped into her mind, O’Brien’s confidence won out.
“There’s a little whisper in the back of your head that, you won it last year, you gotta do it again,” O’Brien said. “But I really didn’t focus on that. I came in with the mindset that I am the best.”
At the event, O’Brien dominated, ultimately winning with a personal-best score of 4,377 points that included a time of 8.53 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, distances of 1.71 meters in the high jump and 5.90 meters in the long jump, a 13.68-meter throw in the shot put, and a 2-minute, 13.95-second time in the 800-meter.
Jadin O'Brien take a bow! 👏🏼
🥇 in the women's pentathlon with 4377 points, a personal best and now first in the country!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/eW5JW8Fdxc
— Notre Dame XC/TF (@NDXCTF) February 23, 2023
The conference championship propelled O’Brien back to nationals. After a torn quad as a freshman, and food poisoning as a sophomore, the pentathlon star was hoping this year would be distraction free.
“In the back of my mind I was like, ‘Ok, what’s this year gonna bring?’”
While she felt a bit sick initially from the altitude in Albuquerque and dealt with a knee ailment, it was overall the healthiest O’Brien had come into the event. Zoned in throughout the week, she finally came to the realization the night before the national championship event that she had the opportunity to do something special.
“It didn’t really hit me that I was going to compete for the title until the night before the actual event,” O’Brien said. “I was calm, I was confident, I had my wire high, ready to go. I did everything I had needed to do to prepare for the national championship. But the night before it really sunk in. I was like, ‘I’m about to go do this. I’m about to do something that’s really, really hard in a few hours.’”
In years prior, O’Brien entered the national championship competition quiet, focused and locked in. While she found herself in the same zone this year, being more personable and light-hearted helped her stay loose. It led to a strong start to the event, as she set PRs in the high jump (1.72 meters) and the shot put (13.85 meters). With a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles and a sixth-place finish in the long jump, the final event was on deck: the 800-meter race.
“The 800 is by far the hardest event, and it’s the most dreaded event by most people,” O’Brien said. “It’s one of my better events, but regardless, everyone is very nervous at this point.”
In second place going into the final competition, O’Brien lined up on the track where the PA announcer let everyone know how close the pentathlon standings were. A motivated O’Brien took advantage.
“He said it as we’re on the line,” O’Brien said. “That’s not exactly what you want to hear, but after hearing that, and seeing how close I was to the top, I was like, ‘You know what Jadin, here we go. We’re gonna do this.’ I gave it my best in the 800 and I PR’d.”
The PR time of 2:13:40 in the 800-meter gave O’Brien a personal-best 4,512 points to earn the championship, creating a moment that will last a lifetime.
That feeling after you win a national title 👑🥺#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/AFtpajIo7N
— Notre Dame XC/TF (@NDXCTF) March 10, 2023
Raise that trophy high Jadin! You are a 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏🤩#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/eC4f7vogvu
— Notre Dame XC/TF (@NDXCTF) March 10, 2023
“It was crazy,” O’Brien said. “I crossed the finish line, and it hadn’t sunken in. I was too tired to think about anything, I crossed the finish line and immediately fell to the floor. But camera guys were in my face as soon as I crossed the finish line. So, I was kind of like, ‘Oh, well that’s probably a good sign.’ And then I hear on the speaker, the announcer goes, ‘And an unofficial national champion, Jadin O’Brien.’ Once I heard that, I just started crying.”
Now, O’Brien will soon begin her second outdoor season at Notre Dame, and is excited to get back to it after sitting out last season. Continuing to stay loose while not adding any extra pressure to herself, O’Brien believes she could be title bound again this spring.
“I’m so excited because it’s been over a year since I’ve competed outdoors,” O’Brien said. “There’s really nothing holding me back. I want an outdoor national title. I’m going to work and I’m going to fight for that. I’m going to go for it.”
O’Brien’s summer figures to have a lot of training in store in South Bend. Ultimately, it could lead her to an ACC championship three-peat, and perhaps back-to-back national titles.
“It would mean a lot,” O’Brien said. “I know I’m capable of it, I know I have it in me. It’s what I want. It would just be awesome.”
However, the training will also be part of a long-term goal. For several years, O’Brien has had her sights set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The games are just under a year-and-a-half away, meaning it will soon be time to ramp things up for the Notre Dame athlete.
“Going into the summer and then leading into next season, I’m kind of going to have the mindset of, ‘Let’s just see what happens,’” O’Brien said. “I can’t wait, honestly. The trials was such a surreal experience. I kind of knew that I was most likely not going to make it to the Olympics as a freshman. But now I have a lot more confidence in my abilities and what I can do. I’m going to remember that as I train. I know I can do it. It’s just going to be a matter of putting things in place, staying focused, and believing in myself.”
It’s been an incredible start to O’Brien’s collegiate career, and the sky’s the limit for her going forward. No matter where her future leads, however, O’Brien will now always be able to call herself a national champion.
“It was an unreal day,” she concluded. “It took everything I had to win. I did it. It still hasn’t totally sunk in. I’m just so grateful.”
