London 2012 golden girl Jessica Ennis-Hill has dropped a major hint that her silver medal-winning heptathlon performance at the Rio Olympics will mark the end of her athletics career. ‘I just want to be remembered as one of the great athletes that came into the heptathlon, ‘ she said.
Advertisement
The 23-year-old from Liverpool should be the face of the 2017 world championships and one of the favourites for gold in Tokyo in 2020 Tokyo.
It looks like being the final act of a glorious career for one of the finest athletes Great Britain has produced. After narrowly missing out on gold, she explained “I have had an awesome few years and achieved so much in the sport”. I make sure that he’s taken care of.
“I still want to be active and keep fit and be involved in sport in some element and get people active and inspire them but I don’t know what exactly that will involve. He said “10 seconds” and I was like ‘oh god that’s so much”, but I just thought I’m going to run hard like I always do at 800m and see what I can do and come away and give it.
“I’m disappointed with my performance, I should have done better”, said the Liverpool athlete.
“I still can’t believe it, I didn’t come for a medal”. As she lined up for the 800m, the final event of the women’s heptathlon, she knew she needed to overturn a 142-point deficit to surpass Nafissatou Thiam, the brilliant young Belgian – nine years her junior – if she was to retain her Olympic title. It’s like, have you still got stuff in the basement?’
“I have got to go away now and make a big decision as to what I do”.
She said she was “honestly not disappointed” to have lost her title.
She will go on holiday with husband Andy and son Reggie before making an announcement. But reflecting on Sunday, she said was proud and happy to have won the silver medal and now it was time for a break, for celebrations, and to think about the future. But the heptathlon is a tough event, and I’ve done it so long.
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”.
“The schedule was ridiculous, the worst I have known”, said Ennis-Hill. 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.
Ennis-Hill was already considering what her legacy might be.
Advertisement
Thiam, who combines athletics with university studies in geography, clocked 13.56sec in the 100m hurdles, jumped a best of 1.98m in the high jump, managed 14.91m in the shot put and timed 25.10sec in the 200m during the first day of action.
