‘The older ones have to move on and call it a day and the younger ones come through and the sport continues. “Obviously I would have loved to defend my title but I knew it was a tall ask”.
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Thiam, however, dug deep to come in just over seven seconds behind, a second inside her personal best, and good enough to take gold. “I want to be the best at what I do”, said Ennis-Hill who hailed new champion Thiam.
Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton claimed bronze after a strong second day. “I’m just so emotional and yeah, I’ve just got to make a decision as to whether this is my last heptathlon or not”. “I don’t want to cry on TV but these years have been incredible so just really proud”.
“I was like “oh god that’s so much”, she said.
“It is a silver medal and I am back on the podium which is great”. My soft tissue therapist and a few of the other guys were waiting so we had a glass of champagne outside.
Ennis-Hill charged out into the lead, quickly establishing a gap on the field as she tried to squeeze every last drop from her 30-year-old body.
But it will be far harder for Ennis than it was back then, when she was able to treat the 800m nearly as two laps of honour.
Motherhood had changed everything, she said. After narrowly missing out on gold, she explained “I have had an awesome few years and achieved so much in the sport”.
She said she was “honestly not disappointed” to have lost her title.
Kenya’s Ferguson Rotich also progressed to the semi-finals, a day after the International Olympic Committee opened disciplinary proceedings against him and Kenyan coach John Anzrah, who was allegedly caught providing a urine sample for a drugs test on behalf of the athlete. I don’t want to spend a year or two years chasing bits and being injured. These two days have been pretty tough, but I’m really proud. ‘It amounted to a silver medal so there’s no element of disappointment.
Ennis-Hill suggested the unusual timings of the events on Friday may have affected her performances.
Jones, after an excellent hurdles and high jump, is third on 3,964 points.
The 2012 champion was trumped by the slender margin of 35 points, despite beating Thiam by nearly seven and a half seconds in the concluding 800 metres.
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Super mum Jessica Ennis-Hill is still our golden girl despite silver in the heptathlon at the Rio Olympics, writes Graham Walker. Minichiello has left the door open for her to return. “If there are opportunities coming up, I need to start having a look at that as a career going forwards”, he continued.
