‘2026 was a breakthrough year’ says Belfast heptathlete Anna McCauley, ‘I’m excited to see what I can do in the next few years.’
It all started for Belfast based heptathlete Anna McCauley at the Mary Peters Track when she was 12 years old.
“My mum, Maureen, who is now my athletics coach, took me down to the Mary Peters Track to start athletics with City of Lisburn AC. My first coach, Jo Savage at City of Lisburn (who sadly passed away in 2025) was pivotal in encouraging me to get started in athletics and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
My mum (and now my coach) has been a driving force in my athletics, and she’s been monumental in terms of supporting my sporting journey. Early retirement for her turned into full-time coaching. My dad supports me by always looks for the extra 1% I can improve upon!
“I began with competing in sprints and jumps and then progressed to multi-events. I took part in my first international schools combined events meeting in Glasgow, where I represented Ireland and then went on to compete for Northern Ireland at a Youth Commonwealth Games in the 100m hurdles.”
Anna has been a member of City of Lisburn AC since she was 12 and continues to train at the Mary Peters Track and on the indoors track at Jordanstown.
After 6 years of education in England with a Psychology BSc and PGCE completed, Anna moved back home and is working as a part-time supply primary school teacher to help support her full-time training and athletics career.
She is coached by a team of people, including her mum Maureen McCauley and Adam McMullan and has specific coaches for throws and jumps.
“I’ve now competed at two senior Commonwealth Games and had a huge breakthrough year in 2026 scoring 6,069 points in the heptathlon in May 2026.
I am now ranked second all-time in the pentathlon and heptathlon in Ireland which is something I’m really proud of.”
Having kicked off her athletics career at the Mary Peters Track it’s fitting that Lady Mary Peters is one of Anna’s sporting heroes alongside Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill.
Anna was first supported by the Mary Peters Trust in 2017 and pointed out that it enabled her to travel to Tenerife to aim to qualify for Youth European Championships.
“Lady Mary Peters has been a key figure. Firstly, because of her personal impact on local sports people, but also the legacy she left on the track which I train on all the time.
“Mary has always been an idol and someone I’ve looked up to. Most recently she’s been such a supportive figure particularly after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the homecoming.
The Commonwealth Games was a good competition for me, but I was still disappointed and Mary reminded me of how proud everyone was and that I’m capable of so much more – which meant a lot.”
When asked what her proudest moment to date is Anna says it’s breaking 6,000 points in the heptathlon (with 6,069 points) in May 2026, with a 400 + point PB which led to Anna being ranked 2nd all-time in Irish heptathlon.
One of Anna’s biggest learnings is controlling her competition nerves, “I used to get so nervous when I was younger.
“My first international competition was the Youth Commonwealth Games in Bahamas in the 100m hurdles when I was 17. It gave me exposure to international competitions and experience in how to deal with competition nerves.
“Now by viewing competitions as something to enjoy and an opportunity to show off and do everything you’ve been training for, then it really helps to manage those nerves!
“When I compare my Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to the Birmingham Games in 2022, I’m a completely different athlete. Going into the 2026 Commonwealths I took a lot of confidence and excitement from my breakthrough score in May and knowing that I had even more to give in Glasgow.”
Anna’s next major competitions are in 2027, and in order to qualify for the key competitions it will involve a lot of travel to help build her ranking points at various international competitions across Europe. The European Indoors Championship will be held in the Spanish city of Valencia in March 2027 and the World Championships in Beijing during September next year.
“It’s very competitive to qualify for major championships as multi events only have an allocation of 14 athletes competing at the indoor and 24 athletes at the outdoor at Europeans / World Championships.
“I’m not putting any limitations on what I can achieve in the future, and I have high hopes for the next couple years. I’m really excited to see what I can do!”