Interviews
Balancing Act: Jessica Ennis-Hill
This season is a strange one because, although it’s an Olympic year, I feel slightly less pressure than I have felt in previous years. London had such a big build up and I felt a hell of a lot of responsibility to do the country proud, but this time round I feel more excitement – I want to enjoy the moment and the events, especially as this will definitely be my last Olympics. I don’t see myself going on for another four years unfortunately. I’ve done athletics for such a long time now and I’ve been fortunate enough to go to the best Games of our time. And Rio is going to be amazing too.
People often ask why I chose an event that is so tough, but the truth is that it chose me. I started doing athletics at 10 and tried lots of events and then I met my coach and he was: ‘Oh try the hurdles, try the high jump. Put them all together over two days and you have the heptathlon.’ I didn’t really know what it was and I didn’t particularly like it but I stuck with it and as I started to learn the events I got better and better and then I started to enjoy it a bit more. It’s really tough and sometimes I wonder why I did stick with it, but it worked out OK.
Omega watches are beautiful and timeless. I have a few pieces now and my favourites always change. Unsurprisingly my first watch was a stopwatch for training and it took a few years to get to the pieces I have now. At training my coach does most of my timing but it depends what sessions I am doing. If I’m doing interval timing then I will use a watch but my Omegas are just for special occasions.
Despite all the demands, when I’m competing I have to focus. If I’m at the beginning of a heptathlon starting with the hurdles I’m thinking of technical aspects – driving out of the blocks hard and attacking the first hurdle. I’ll also use the crowd to draw energy because everyone cheering and screaming your name makes you really excited but I don’t think of anything negative, I don’t think about what’s going to happen once I cross the line or what’s happened before.
But last year’s World Championships was different. It was a personal journey coming back after having Reggie. He was only 13 months old and I didn’t expect to win. I was just happy to be there and contending. It was hard leaving Reggie, so to come home with a gold medal and see him and say ‘look what mummy’s won’ was really special.
I’m not sure if I will compete at the World Championships in 2017. It depends how this year goes and what my motivation levels are. I will decide later this year whether I will retire after Rio or come back to London for one more go. Whatever I decide, it will be strange to retire because I’ve been doing athletics for so long. I definitely want to stay involved in some capacity as I am really passionate about sport and what it can give you no matter what walk of life you’re in.
Having Reggie now I see how much I have gained from athletics – not winning medals but on a more personal level. It’s taught me so much in terms of focus, determination and the desire to achieve in all areas of life and that’s something I would love Reggie and all children to experience as well.”