Jess said ‘hello’... and I just sort of babbled at her!
SAYS NEW GB HEPTATHLON STAR
WitH 500 days to go until the tokyo Olympics, one of Britain’s most promising young athletes is discussing the art of keeping a cool head in exciting moments.
the trick, Niamh Emerson explains, is to take how she responded to meeting Jessica Ennis-Hill and then do the exact opposite.
She picks up the amusing tale, which goes back to December and her chance conversation with a sporting icon.
‘it was at Sports Personality
of the Year,’ Emerson tells Sportsmail, after winning pentathlon silver at the European indoors and setting a teenage world record in the process. ‘i had actually met her once before when i was 12 or 13, but this was my first conversation with her.
‘i was just standing with one of the girls from the team, Morgan Lake, then noticed Jess coming over because she knows Morgan. Next thing she says, “Hello Niamh”, and starts talking to me. i was like, “Hi, Jessica Ennis”. i couldn’t believe what was happening and just babbled at her.
‘Once she had gone, i actually went after her and asked if i might be able to sit down with her one day to pick her brain. She gave me her number and that’s when i started getting daft again.’
Emerson shakes her head at what happened next. ‘i remember coming home and waving my phone at my friends, saying, “Look whose number i have”, and the first things one of them said was, “Watch you don’t dial it by mistake at some point”.
‘Obviously that is what i did. i’d had this message from her and i was staring at my phone, trying to be all cool, not to reply after a split second, and then i somehow hit the video call button on Whatsapp. i’m there frantically hanging up after it’s started to ring. it’s such a me thing to do — i never do anything smoothly. Never. So yeah, when it comes to keeping cool, don’t do that.’
thankfully, when it comes to running, throwing and jumping, this 19-year-old is rated by those inside British athletics as among the most composed performers in the team. there is cautious optimism that the latest offering from the multi-eventing production line will live up to the success of what has gone before, from Denise Lewis to Ennis-Hill, kelly Sotherton and katarina Johnson-thompson.
it is far too early for bold predictions and comparisons, but it is impossible to ignore what has happened in the past 11 months, taking in a commonwealth Games bronze medal aged 18, gold at the World Junior championships and her recent pentathlon silver at the European indoors. at the Europeans she set personal bests in all five disciplines, recording the highest ever score for a teenager, finishing second to Johnsonthompson. it was only her second appearance in a British vest.
‘i don’t set low expectations for myself anyway and this exceeded them,’ she added. ‘after getting silver, people started automatically talking about how i might do at the World championships in Doha, which is pretty crazy. My physio, who knows i’m an impatient sort of person, started saying to me that night, “Be patient”. in this case i already knew that. i’m realistic about what i need to do at this stage in my career and right now my only aim is to keep improving. people will put expectations on me, but i’m not about to get carried away. i’ve worked a long time to get to this point.’
Emerson was a nine-year-old in Derbyshire when she first took to athletics. the prime influence was her mother, a midwife who was a high-level amateur runner in her youth. ‘She was at national standard,’ Emerson says. ‘She did the 400m and raced Sally Gunnell a few times. it’s a family thing because my sister throws discus.
‘i always loved athletics and i was rubbish at everything else. i tried gymnastics, dancing and had too much energy for all of them. But once i started running, i was winning at county level straight away. the 800m was my thing at that point. then along came London 2012 and Jess, and i guess i’m just like everyone else — i saw what Jess did and it inspired me. i was star-struck and at 14 i thought, i’ll give multi-events a try.
‘i did it partly because she had put it on the map but there was also a bit more to it. the 800m just started making me too nervous — where i was being sick before every race. interestingly, it has gone on to help me. When i switched events to pentathlon and then heptathlon, i told myself, “You do this because you love it”, and now one of my biggest things is that i’m calm in a championship.
‘My goals for my career are to win medals,’ she says. ‘i am just watching and learning. i have always admired kJt and now i’ve been on a podium next to her.’
the great unknown is over what happens with these two heptathletes in the next 18 months. On one hand, there is Johnsonthompson, one of Britain’s best medal hopes going to tokyo. the signs are encouraging that she will finally deliver on her immense talent at the highest level.
On the other, Britain’s next multi-eventing talent is up and running. Her development in the next 500 days will be fascinating.