Sheffield born mum of one shows just how to comeback from life’s most difficult yet exhilarating experience.
A full time athlete since leaving university, Jessica Ennis-Hill takes her first sporting break when falling pregnant with son Reggie, announcing she will not be taking part in the Commonwealth Games in 2014. After giving birth in July of 2014, the world couldn’t help but wonder, will the woman who cemented herself as the esteemed heptathlon champion in 2012 ever make a firm comeback?
Participation in the 2015 Athletics World Championships would suggest rigorous training has brought the new mother back into the rankings. As the world waited for the return of the heptathlon champion, eyes couldn’t help but wander to her rivals, British Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton. With both competitors having a full-time training regime during Ennis-Hill's break, and with Johnson-Thompson matching Ennis-Hill on some personal records, it was only natural to wonder whether the 29-year-old could retain her title.
Ennis-Hill exceeds own expectations
As day one starts, running in second for the 100m hurdles, despite it being her specialist event, and jumping an equal to her season’s best in the high jump, the competition was underway and Ennis-Hill was topping the leader board after the first two events with 2192 points. As expected, Johnson-Thompson put up a fight in second place.
Whilst rival Johnson-Thompson began with two foul jumps, high jump saw Ennis-Hill continuing to top the leader board as they went into the shot put and 200m.
The competition advanced and Ennis-Hill continued to impress. Following the shot put Johnson-Thompson dropped down to ninth place despite throwing a personal best whilst Theisen-Eaton creeped back towards medal contention. However, a fantastic 200m run from Johnson-Thompson saw her coming first above Ennis-Hill and back in medal contention.
Nobody knew that Johnson-Thompson's specialist event (long jump) would lead her to three foul jumps, with a controversial final jump decision, and out of the competition completely. With her main competitor eliminated, Ennis-Hill jumped a seasons best of 6.43m before consoling her fellow Great British team-mate.
As the final event, 800m, approached only Ennis-Hill and Theisen-Eaton remained in the running for the top spot. Theisen-Eaton didn’t shy from the challenge and pushed Ennis-Hill for the first 700m, putting as much distance between the two of them as possible. However, this fight proved too aggressive for the Canadian as the world watched Ennis-Hill breeze past on the home strait, leaving her reclaiming her top spot position as heptathlon world champion with a stunning 6669 points.
Much to the surprise of her coach Toni Minichiello, who stated Ennis-Hill was only competing in the world championships in hope of a bronze medal, Ennis-Hill reclaims her title of world champion again.
Child or not, Jessica Ennis-Hill proved that she will always be the mother of the heptathlon.