Ennis primed to lay Britain’s first athletics gold on the medals table

The 26-year-old from Sheffield gets her heptathlon challenge underway this morning with the expectations of her home city, and the nation, on her shoulders.

For so long the poster girl of London 2012, Ennis is seven events away from the crowning moment of her career.

She is in the best shape of her life and favourite to win gold and deliver Great Britain’s first athletics medal of the Games tomorrow evening.

“I feel very good to be honest,” said Ennis.

“I am very happy with the year so far, what I have done. I am happy with the training I have done.

“Yes, I feel good.

“I still feel the passion but it’s been a long build-up.

“When that BP advert comes on I think ‘Oh, no, not this again!’ and Andy (her fiance) pauses it and we have a laugh about it.

“That lessens the importance of it all and makes it easier.”

The opening event is the 100m hurdles this morning with the gold medal to be decided tomorrow evening in the 800m, which could come down to a straight shootout with Russia’s world champion Tatyana Chernova.

Ennis said: “I have put a lot of hard work into the 800 and done some really horrible sessions, so I would tell myself I have put all the hard work in and, if it does come down to it, I could take her down.”

Ukraine’s reigning Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska cannot be discounted, especially after taking Ennis’s world indoor crown off her in Istanbul earlier this year.

The aura of invincibility Ennis built for herself in 2009 and 2010, in the wake of missing out on Beijing through injury, may have been eroded with two world silvers in the last 12 months.

But with the home crowd roaring her towards victory, she is the woman to beat over the coming two days in what is the biggest show in town.

Mo Farah will go for gold in the 10,000m shortly afterwards, meaning Ennis will have the chance to be the first Briton to do a lap of honour in front of the home crowd in the Olympic Stadium.

“It is nice being on at the beginning,” said Ennis. “I much prefer to get it out of the way and it would be great to get us off to a good start, and having Mo on straight after.

“I was on quite near the end in Barcelona (European Championships 2010).

“Although it was good because the team was doing well, you are yet to perform.

“That was hard and means a lot of pressure.”