British heptathlon star Jessia Ennis-Hill made a smooth start to the defence of her Olympic crown Friday, landing an early psychological blow on rival Brianne Theisen-Eaton with an impressive 100m hurdles victory.
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The 30-year-old produced her third-fastest time since those London Games – and her fastest in a heptathlon since then – before pulling out her best high jump since before the last Olympics.
Ennis-Hill’s time of 12.84 seconds – equating to 1,149 points – was well clear of chief rivals Theisen-Eaton (13.18s) and Johnson-Thompson (13.48s) in arguably her strongest event.
Theisen-Eaton is 52 points off Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson is 96 behind.
Ennis-Hill looked particularly strong as she powered down the track taking a convincing win in her hurdles heat.
“On my USB stick out in Rio, I’ve got a copy of the Jesse Owens film Race and I think that will motivate me”.
“Last year (when she won the world title in Beijing in her first major competition since giving birth) was a massive challenge and I feel like the odds are a little bit against me because it’s a huge thing to achieve”.
Ennis-Hill completed the race in 12.84 seconds, the fastest time of all 35 competitors.
“There’s a lot of pressure coming here as defending champion and the world record-holder, but I feel like nearly close to my good years of 2010 to 2012”.
Rimmer, who ran 1:45.99, said he was not entirely satisfied with his form.
“I’m not going to be too greedy and imagine it will happen again, but it was really special to be part of that”. But hopefully that means I’ll be a bit more switched tomorrow.
Rimmer is chasing a final place and said: “I’ve never got to a global final and I think if I finish my career without that happening it would be a waste of talent”.
There was disappointment for Britain’s other 800m runner, Elliot Giles, who went out after finished seventh in his heat in 1:47.88.
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The timetable this time means the medals can not be won in quite such a short space of time, but there remains a strong chance of another momentous day. It’s not a learning curve, it’s just an experience and what I could do different from now I just don’t know. “You live and learn”.
