Despite clocking an impressive time of 2:09.07, some seven seconds ahead of Thiam, it was not enough to overturn the lead and Ennis-Hill was forced to settle for the silver medal.
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After finishing the event finale, the 800metres, in which she needed to beat Thiam by almost 10 seconds, she turned to bronze medallist Brianne Theisen-Eaton and said, “it’s so stressful, why do we do it?”
She finished in sixth place with 6,523 points.
“I knew I had to beat her (Thiam) by 10 seconds in the 800m”.
“When he said 10 seconds I thought “That is so much” but I just ran hard like I always do in the 800m and just tried to see what I could do”. I kind of know in my mind what I am going to do – but it’s still a huge decision.
‘I gave what I had on those two days, ‘ she said.
But she may find it hard to walk away from a chance to go for the top spot and retain her crown at the World Championships next year in London – the sight of that famous night four years ago when Ennis-Hill cemented her place in the hearts and minds of the British public.
“It would have been incredible (to all win gold again) and that was a really tall ask for all of us”, Ennis-Hill said. “At this moment, I’m exhausted and emotional, it’s a big decision”.
In all likelihood, that was Ennis-Hill’s last heptathlon.
“I think it’s a mix of thinking back to the last few years”, she added.
“It is just a really unusual time in my career and it is all new to me and it is going to be big changes”.
Thiam’s rise has been rapid and staggering.
She also won World Championship gold in 2015, after returning to athletics following the birth of her first child, and put up a valiant effort to take silver on this occasion. She was just 2 seconds away from winning Gold, and we were so gutted for her. Late nights, then packing up, eating and preparing for the next day, she said she was working on between 4-5 hours’ sleep for the final day of the heptathlon.
An extraordinary high jump competition saw the three pre-event contenders shine, with Thieson-Eaton recovering from an early scare to post 1.86m, Ennis-Hill setting 1.89m (1093 points) and Johnson-Thompson soaring to new heights.
She sobbed afterwards but insisted they were happy tears. The heptathlon is as much mentally draining as it is physically draining, and Ennis-Hill has certainly been through the ringer of the years – she’s had a lot thrown at her.
Meanwhile, Johnson-Thompson’s chances of bronze bit the dust after a sub-par 6.51m leap in the long jump and a awful performance in the javelin. Her first effort was just 36.36m, almost six metres below her personal best, while her second was so poor she purposely stepped over the line so it counted as foul.
An intriguing question that will remain unanswered is: “How good could she have been had she concentrated on an individual event?”
Thiam and her both cleared 1.98m which is a world record for the heptathlon.
Her coach Toni Minichiello, with whom she has been since she was 13, said: “I’ve said to her in my super cheesy chat, ‘You see Rocky Balboa, there’s this chat between Rocky and his brother”.
“These two days have been really tough but I am really proud”. Not many people were getting PBs apart from Thiam and it showed because she won.
A day of ups and downs for Johnson-Thompson. It was her third fastest time since winning in London.
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“I have got to have a think”.
