Jessica Ennis-Hill relinquished her Olympic crown as Super Saturday did not go quite to plan for Britain’s 2012 golden trio.
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She said: “I’m really pleased with my hurdles, high jump as well, but shot put I’m devastated”. I am really happy.
“I have had an awesome few years and achieved so much in this sport”. “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”.
And then Ennis-Hill narrowly had to play second fiddle to Nafi Thiam, her impressive Belgian successor as heptathlon champion.
“I’m disappointed with my performance, I should have done better”, said the Liverpool athlete.
“It’s insane. I wasn’t expecting that – maybe top eight, but not the gold”, said the youngster. I wasn’t expecting that. “I’d be devastated if I didn’t win two more golds in Rio”. His old brother Robert, a triple world champion, withdrew from the Olympics after injuring his back.
“I work hard and spend a lot of time away from my family and everything and you know that one moment could be gone and not in your control”, he told the BBC.
In a thrilling two-day battle the lead has now changed hands four times, and the competitive experience of the 29-year-old Ennis-Hill may yet prove critical in the final session.
Johnson-Thompson faces an almighty struggle for gold but remains in contention for silver, her weaker javelin offset by a traditionally strong 800m. She opened with 36.36m, some way off her PB of 42.01m from 2015, and couldn’t improve.
Team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the heir to her multi-eventing throne, clocked 13.48s, 0.11 down on her best this year, but a solid enough start given the rain and a headwind.
“These were my second Olympics and to win gold at my first and silver here makes me so proud”.
Still, it’s an Olympic silver medal, she said, and she had to enjoy it.
And in Rio the stage is set for history to repeat itself as the terrific trio of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford – who all won gold in the space of 46 minutes four years ago – are reunited by a quirk of the athletics scheduling.
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Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou was fourth with a 10.86 PB, while world 200m champ Dafne Schippers of Netherlands was fifth with 10.90 as the top seven went sub-11 seconds.
