O’Connor was a silver medalist for Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, then finished 13th at the following year’s World Championships and 14th at the Paris Olympics.
He says he will take time over the festive period to reflect on his seismic progress in recent months, before setting out his role for 2026.
“It’s been a lot of fun and sometimes I’m looking forward to getting back into my routine and training again for next year, but I also have to realize that I did something special this year and just savor it and enjoy the moment.
“At the beginning of the year I didn’t set out to win four international medals. My goal was to win one international medal, but once I got going I realized it was doable.
“I didn’t let anything stop me and that’s probably one of the things I learned this year: never be small: be big, take up space and know that you belong in these kinds of places.
“My perspective on sport is different and my expectations of myself are different and for the rest of my athletics career I will strive to win medals. I’m not just there as a placeholder, I want to be the best.”
O’Connor recorded five personal bests in the seven events and finished runner-up at the World Championships in Tokyo, setting an Irish national record of 6,714 points.
Earlier in the year she achieved a new Irish indoor pentathlon record of 4,683 points at the Tallinn Combined Events meeting in Estonia and won the 800 meters and set four personal bests by placing third at the European Indoor Championships.
He says he wants to compete in athletics professionally over the next two Olympic cycles, with a gold medal being his main ambition.
“My ultimate goal is to get to the Olympics, be on the podium and try to win a gold medal. I think if you don’t imagine yourself doing that, you’ll never get there,” he said.
“I’m going to work really hard until I get there. I fully believe I can do it. Even though I did great things this year, I know there’s a lot more to do. I’m going to keep building and see what else I can do.”