With London 2012 Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill announcing her retirement today, we look back at her illustrious career and the success that has made her a household name around the world.
A champion multi-eventer, Ennis-Hill’s list of achievements is impressive – the girl from Sheffield having climbed the medal rostrum repeatedly at Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth level.
The defining moment may have come at London 2012 where she captured the hearts of the nation with two days of title-winning performances at the Olympic Stadium but Ennis-Hill has risen to the occasion on plenty of other occasions during a 16-year athletics career.
From overcoming the disappointment of missing out on Beijing 2008 through injury to win Olympic gold four years later, securing a second World title in 2015 just 13 months after the birth of her son Reggie or backing up her London triumph with an impressive silver in Rio this summer – the now 30-year-old has led from the front in British sport. British Olympic Association chairman Sebastian Coe said: “Jess has been one of the leading lights of British athletics for a decade and it has been a pleasure to watch her showcase her world class ability on the greatest of stages throughout that time.
“That night of Super Saturday during London 2012 is something that many, including myself, will never forget and will undoubtedly be our lasting memory of Jess in what has been a phenomenally successful career.
“At times she has carried the expectations of a nation and always did so with grace and a smile. She can be incredibly proud of what she has achieved and retires as one of the finest track and field stars Britain has ever seen.”
Ennis-Hill’s athletics career started when she and her sister attended local athletics camps during the school holidays. At the age of 13, she had her first coaching session with Toni Minichiello before joining the City of Sheffield Athletics Club shortly afterwards. Minichiello has continued to be by Ennis-Hill’s side ever since, guiding her through the highs and lows of her career. The Brit’s first major title came in 2005 when she won the European Junior Championships with a British Junior record score of 5,891 points, while a year later she picked up her first senior major international medal with bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
With the European Athletics Rising Star Award in her back pocket from the year below, the spotlight was on Ennis-Hill to see how she would fare on the Olympic stage at Beijing 2008.
However a stress fracture in her right foot suffered during the early part of the summer put paid to any hopes of a first Olympic Games appearance.
But a year on, Ennis-Hill was back stronger than ever before to claim the first of two World titles in Berlin in 2009 with a world lead points total of 6,731.
Twelve months later and she added the pentathlon world indoor title to her name as well as clinching European gold.
The summer of 2012 was when Ennis-Hill completed the full set of Olympic, World and European titles – although she signalled notice of her intent in May when she beat Denise Lewis’ British 12-year heptathlon record by scoring 6,906 points at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis.
Three months later and she improved that to 6,955 points on the greatest stage of all when she stormed to gold in front of her home fans at the London 2012 Olympic Games, setting personal bests in the 100m hurdles, 200m and javelin.
The accolades duly followed including Ennis-Hill taking the title of World Sportswoman of the Year at the Laureus World Sport Awards and finishing as runner up to Bradley Wiggins at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
After an injury hit 2013, Ennis-Hill announced she would miss the whole of the 2014 season due to the birth of her first child.
Her competitive return came in 2015 and she completed her first heptathlon since winning Olympic gold at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis in May – achieving the qualifying standard for Rio in the process.
The comeback then continued to gather pace over the summer with the crowning moment coming at the Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium as Ennis-Hill saw off all before her to win her second World title.
Injuries may have kept her out of the 2016 indoor season but there was still time for one final chapter in the story as Ennis-Hill added silver to her Olympic medal collection in Rio.
Looking to become the first British female track and field athlete to win back-to-back Olympic titles, she led after day one.
And while Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam rose to the challenge to overtake her rival and clinch gold, Ennis-Hill made sure to finish on a flourish with victory in the 800m to take silver – joining fellow London 2012 Super Saturday champions Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford in climbing the podium again in Rio.
Sportsbeat 2016