Many golden moments to treasure from Jessica Ennis-Hill - one of GB's true Olympic legends

Whether for her golden moment as part of Super Saturday at London 2012, her courageous battle against career-threatening injuries or a successful return from pregnancy, the postergirl of British sport embodied the much-heralded ‘inspire a generation’ notion and carried women’s athletics on these shores on her shoulders.

It is rare for a retiring athlete to have a choice of career-defining moments.

Arms outstretched and the world’s eyes focusing in, photographs of Ennis-Hill’s famous celebration crossing the finish line on day eight of the home Olympics caught an image of fulfilment for a nation.

It was arguably the moment to remember from a Games that lit up the country and one of Britain’s greatest across all sport.

But it all could have been so different.

Ennis-Hill’s dimensions were not a natural fit for the gruelling seven-events of heptathlon. But with the strength of the Steel City she represented, she overcame the natural challenge of appearing too small to make her mark on the world scene.

Her 5ft5in stature first made an international appearance by winning bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne before stepping up to claim fourth at the World Championships one year later. But Ennis-Hill’s world soon turned upside down.

Few stories still note Ennis-Hill’s battle to swap her take-off leg in the jump events following three stress fractures to her right ankle that ruled her out of the Beijing Olympics.

For many, such a change would have ended a career but for the Sheffield star, she returned stronger and produced new bests on her way to winning the World Championships in Berlin the following year.

Her second World Championships success was even more poignant. It was not injury but pregnancy with son Reggie that left her undercooked.

But again, her dedication to training under long-term coach Tony Minichiello pushed the boundaries and brought an unexpected success at the Birdsnest Stadium where injury had cruelly denied her a place seven years earlier.

There was to be no second Olympic gold – more so down to the remarkable improvement from Belgian prodigy Nafissatou Thiam – but Ennis-Hill will hang up her spikes sure in the knowledge she joins Daley Thompson, Sir Steve Redgrave and Bradley Wiggins among Britain’s Olympic greats.

In a tainted era for her sport, Ennis-Hill has provided the most glowing reference of a role-model.

On and off the track, she has handled the intensity of attention with poise and grace and will no doubt be flush with ambassadorial offers as she ponders new ventures.