23rd August 2015

'Greatest Moment' For Jessica Ennis-Hill

23 August 2015

Jessica Ennis-Hill (coach: Toni Minichiello) produced a remarkable display at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China to claim British Athletics’ second gold medal at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Just 24 hours after Mo Farah (Alberto Salazar) won 10,000m gold, Ennis-Hill followed suit at her first major championships since her Olympic triumph in 2012. The 29 year old went into the 800m with a six second cushion from Holland’s Nadine Broersen, but just like in London, finished in style.

Ennis-Hill chased down Brianne Theisen-Eaton on the home straight before powering through in 2:10.13, to add a second world title to the one she won in Berlin six years ago.

The newly crowned 2015 world champion said: “This is definitely one of the greatest moments of my career, I still can’t believe it. Me and Toni (Minichiello) spoke about coming here, and we only wanted to come if I was able to compete for a medal. We spoke about the bronze medal and that it would be amazing for a silver medal, but we never spoke about gold. I kind of thought it was a little beyond me this year.

“When I look back now and think it has taken a while to get in great shape.  It’s hard at the beginning when you’ve got a newborn and you’re adjusting to everything, just having a supportive family and Toni and the team around me really believed in me,” added Ennis-Hill, who gave birth to her son, Reggie just 13 months ago

“I think I have a different perspective and you do things for different reasons and I think it has helped. I know a couple of athlete mums like Jo Pavey and I hope I am an inspiration to other mums.”

After her setback in the long jump earlier on today, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Mike Holmes) posted a time of 2:50.73 in the 800m; she will now turn her attention to the individual long jump campaign, which gets underway on Thursday.

Laura Muir (Andy Young) showed she is a force to be reckoned with a gutsy performance in the 1500m. The 22 year old, who had world record holder Genzebe Dibaba for company, stuck with the pace coming through in third place in 4:07.95 and in the process secured a berth in Tuesday’s final. 

“It went pretty well. I just needed top five, top five, top five. I knew I just needed to do the best race I could tactically. That’s all I was worried about and I’m glad to be through.

“I came out of this heat really, really well and it was one of my best races tactically. I just need to take confidence in that and then it’s just a matter of putting a great race together.” 

Muir’s teammate Laura Weightman (Steve Cram) was forced to withdraw from her semi-final on medical advice, after sustaining a nasty fall during qualifying yesterday.

In the men’s hammer final, Nick Miller (Tore Gustafsson) was disappointed after finishing in 11th place with a best effort of 72.94m from his three throws.

“I’m not feeling too good, I’m very disappointed. I was focused on my throw but I’m not happy as it wasn’t what it should have been.

“This season has gone well – this is the only meet that hasn’t got well this year. Today mattered a lot, but I know I’ve got a lot more opportunities in front of me to improve.”

Both Chijindu Ujah (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) and Richard Kilty failed to make it through to the 100m final after clocking 10.05 and 10.20 respectively. All nine qualifiers dipped under the 10 second barrier in an event won by Usain Bolt, in a much cheered victory at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Niall Flannery’s (Nick Dakin) 400m hurdles campaign came to an end at the semi-final stage finishing fourth in a time of 49.17, but he will be buoyed after taking the scalp of London 2012 bronze medallist Javier Culson.

British Athletics medals at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing, China

 

Gold

Mo Farah (10,000m)

Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon)