Jessica leaps into new role as the face of Adidas

SHE is being heralded as one of the nation’s medal hopes of the London Olympics – and now golden girl Jessica Ennis is the face of Adidas.

The Sheffield heptathlete’s star continued its upward trajectory yesterday when she became the leading name to help get people fit through the sportswear giant’s Me, Myself campaign.

Ennis, who turns 24 today, arrived on the global sports stage at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in August when she won the heptathlon world title.

The manner in which she accomplished the feat – winning four of the seven events and leading the competition from start to finish just a year after an ankle injury robbed her of her Olympic dream in Beijing – captured the hearts and minds of those watching at home.

Her story embodied the British spirit and why the nation loves sport, earning Ennis third place at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in Sheffield in December.

The fact that she is striking and good natured, easy to talk to and a dedicated individual, meant it was inevitable that she be installed as the poster girl for the London Games in three summers’ time.

Hopes and dreams will rest on hundreds of shoulders when the biggest sporting extravaganza wheels into the capital in 2012, but expectation will be placed on only a chosen few.

In past years such a weight has proven an inspiration for some, too great a burden for others.

Cathy Freeman revelled in the hype in Sydney in 2000 and strolled to 400m gold.

Eight years later, Liu Xiang was crippled by fervent Chinese anticipation and a recurrence of an Achilles tendon problem.

Injuries aside, Ennis is so far welcoming the adulation.

“To be honest it’s a really nice position to be in,” Ennis told the Yorkshire Post. “Having been injured the year before and not being a part of the whole Olympic thing it’s nice to be a part of it this time round.

“Obviously there’s going to be so much pressure on all the British athletes at the Olympics, that will be taken to a whole new level, but that’s what you come to expect from the sport, especially with a home Olympics. It’s something everybody will look forward to and enjoy.

“It’s been a whirlwind end to 2009 – just the opposite end of the spectrum to 2008.

“You have to experience the lows and the injuries, it makes you enjoy the highs that little bit more.”

Ennis hopes to continue the highs in 2010.

Her international year begins at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow on Saturday when she captains the Great Britain team against the USA, Sweden, Germany and a Commonwealth select team.

Further events in Sheffield next month and Birmingham are all preparation for the World Indoor Championships in Doha in March when she hopes to add the indoor pentathlon world title to her outdoor heptathlon crown.

Then attentions shift outside to the European Championships in Barcelona at the end of July.

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi have been sacrificed because of their timing – “It’s an absolutely brilliant championship but it falls in October and it’s very difficult to peak for it” she said – as Ennis plots a road map to London 2012.

In 2010, she will get her first taste of the expectation to come in the next Olympics as she enters competitions as world champion and the woman to beat.

“I’ve raised the bar for myself,” said Ennis.

“As world champion I’ve put myself right out there at the top and people are going to want to beat you. It’s a nice position to be in and hopefully I can deliver this year as well.

“It’s always nice to chase people, but it’s nice to be world champion, I wouldn’t give that up for anything and I feel confident going into this year.”

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