Golden girl Ennis keen to set new goals after epic display

The 26-year-old from Sheffield reigned supreme on Friday and Saturday in the Olympic heptathlon.

She turned all the pressure that has been piled on her since the minute she burst onto the scene into positive energy as she produced one of the crowning moments of these inspirational Games.

She wept tears of relief as she crossed the line first in the 800m and with her life now set to change for ever thanks to the gold medal hanging around her neck, she is already talking about what is next with the Games in Rio in 2016 the natural target.

“It’s going to be hard to top that,” she said yesterday of the title she won on an emotional ‘Super Saturday’ for British athletics.

“It’s going to be one of my greatest moments but I think I have a few more years yet.

“I want to keep going and I definitely want to achieve more.

“It’s been a brilliant couple of days.

“To have come here in one piece and deliver is a dream come true.

“Seeing my family and my fiance (Andy) and achieving one of my greatest goals – it’s really overwhelming.

“You never think you are going to get there.”

Pressure can be the making or breaking of a champion and in the case of Ennis, it nearly broke her.

She was under a huge burden to win gold in front of her home fans and deliver what would be the greatest moment of her career.

And as it turned out on two glorious days in London’s Olympic Stadium, this darling of the Steel City thrived on the expectation of a nation.

From the moment she stormed out of the blocks in the 100m hurdles on Friday morning, she was in complete control of her Olympic destiny.

Her performance in the 800m on Saturday night summed up her champion spirit.

With a comfortable advantage over Lithuania’s Austra Skujyte and the chasing pack, she could have sat at the front of the bunch and just avoided the injury that would have robbed her of the title.

But Ennis is a winner and went all out for victory from the first step, crossing the line victorious to a cacophony of sound from the emotionally-charged crowd.

It was an awe-inspiring moment of sport, and set the tone for the rest of the evening with Mo Farah’s gold in the 10,000m and Greg Rutherford’s superhuman effort in the long jump.

Having had time to reflect on the performance, the crowd and the culmination of the journey, Ennis could at last reveal yesterday how all the pressure of the past few years had affected her.

“I can talk about it openly now it’s done,” said Sheffield’s champion. “Obviously I was really aware of the pressure and what people were expecting me to do.

“Everyone expected me to win. I had a few moments at home worrying and wondering if it would all go the way I wanted it to... or if everything would fall apart.

“There was a huge amount of pressure, but it was a unique position I was in and I wanted to make the most of that.

“I trained as hard as I could and wanted to make sure I delivered on those two days and thankfully I can sit here and say that I did.

“I tried not to focus on the pressure.

“I was aware of everything going on and obviously every time I looked on the TV there was another advert or a poster or an ad campaign.

“I had so much fun doing those but it added to the pressure.

“I just stayed really, really focused and tried to not worry about what other people expected of me and just believed that I could do it.

“I didn’t go on Twitter or anything like that, I just shut off from everything.

“I came into the competition in good shape, the best shape of my life. I had the belief that I could do it.”

Her emotion as she crossed the line was of sheer relief at having not only fulfilled her ambition, but having done so in such dominant fashion.

“It was a mix of everything – missing Beijing and the disappointment in Daegu,” she said, in reference to the injury that delayed her Olympics debut four years ago and the world title she lost in 2011.

“There has been so much pressure on me but I have had so much support.

“I want to spend some time with my family and go back to Sheffield to see my friends and have a huge celebration.”

The party atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night was uplifting for all who witnessed it, and for Ennis and the successful British athletes, it was their chance to give back and inspire.

“The crowd lift you so much, they support you so much,” she said. “For Britain to win three gold medals in one evening is unbelievable and there are a lot of events still to go.

“Hopefully we are inspiring a new generation and this has a knock-on effect for the next few years.”

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