Ennis-Hill wins World Championships heptathlon gold
Jessica Ennis-Hill said she wanted to make her son proud of her when she competed in the World Championships.
Issued on:
The lad is only 13 months old but when he gets older, Reggie will come to know that in her day, his mum was a world beater.
Ennis-Hill, the poster girl of the London Olympics, added the world heptathlon title to her 2012 Olympic crown on Sunday night. She finished the 800 metres – the seventh and final discipline in 2 minutes 10.13. It brought her 963 points to take her overall tally to 6,669. Fittingly it was the season’s best performance in the heptathlon.
The Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton was second and Laura Ikauniece-Admidina from Lativa was third.
Ennis-Hill’s voyage to the gold was eased early on Sunday when fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson failed to register a mark in the fifth discipline of the long jump.
That came when the 22-year-old was in second place and hoping to gain a title-winning advantage in what is deemed to be her strongest discipline.
But after two fouls, Johnson-Thompson went for broke. But her third and final leap was also given a red flag. Had it been allowed, it would have offered her a significant lead going into the final two rounds.
But that’s all conjecture now. What is certain is that Ennis-Hill can consider herself one of the greats of her sport after battling with injuries and returning to high grade competition so soon after the birth of her son.
With the title in her pocket, the comeback queen immediately set her sights on retaining her Olympic crown next year in Rio.
“Obviously it was touch and go as to whether I would have even come to Beijing to compete,” said Ennis-Hill. “Having performed the way I did at the anniversary games in London in July showed me that I was making the progress I needed to make to be competitive here. So London was a big part of my decision. I can now go away working a bit harder, get a good winter season in and hopefully come back stronger next year.”
Should she be fit for the trip to Brazil, Ennis-Hill will have to contend with Johnson-Thompson who will be unlikely to repeat the gamble in the long jump that ultimately cost her a place on the podium.
Theisen-Eaton will also be a wilier opponent. The 26-year-old entered the world championships as the woman to beat. The wife of the American decathlete Ashton Eaton admitted she had learned from her two days about coping with pressure.
“It was the first time I had come into a championship as favourite," she reflected. "I always thought, what’s the big deal? It can’t be that hard. I know that Jessica has experienced it. I know my husband has experienced it and not that I didn’t have respect for them before but I have a lot more now because it’s a whole different ball game.”
She said she had put too much pressure on herself to perform. “I wasn’t the same athlete that I normally am. I wasn’t relaxed. I wasn’t having fun. I thought that I had to do something spectacular and something different and I think that’s what really caused the problem.”
While Theisen-Eaton was overpsyched and under performing, Ennis-Hill was serenity in motion. She said she thought bronze was a realistic target following her labours with injuries and bringing up a new born. However it was her solid, uncluttered consistency which shone through the first two days of the 2015 championships.
She came second in five of the seven events and scored healthily in her weakest events of the javelin and shot put. Already one of the darlings of British athletics, Ennis-Hill will return to yet more ovations and accolades. And the screams of one young son.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe