JESS SET TO CALL TIME

Olympic silver could mark end of glittering career for Ennis-Hill

AS JESSICA EnnisHill sat in a doping control room in the Joao Havelange Stadium for two hours on Saturday night trying to produce enough urine for a sample, memories of an exceptional career flooded her mind.

Everything from English Schools to the South Yorkshire championships, to gold at London 2012 and finally an Olympic silver medal, hard-fought and brilliantly won two years after having her first child.

She did not use the word retirement the following morning when speaking after just three hours’ sleep, but it seemed her mind was made up as she reflected on her achievements in the past tense and talked of passing the baton to a talented new generation.

‘It’s inevitable isn’t it?’ Ennis-Hill said. ‘The older ones have to move on and call it a day and the younger ones come through and the sport continues. I’ve had some amazing years so I’m very happy to let that happen.’

Belgium’s gold medal-winner Nafissatou Thiam, 21, confirmed she is up to the task by recording five personal best scores over two days to win with 6,810 points.

The battle for honours had gone to the wire with Ennis-Hill needing to beat the Belgian by nine seconds in the 800 metres. It was a gutsy effort as Ennis-Hill led from gun to tape and won in 2min 9.07sec, but Thiam was only seven seconds adrift.

Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada took bronze, but the second Briton, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, suffered another breakdown in the javelin, the penultimate event, and stuttered to a sixth-place finish.

‘I just had to go for myself,’ said Ennis-Hill. ‘I just literally ran from start to finish and didn’t look back so I could walk off the track knowing I went eyeballs out and gave it everything.’

She sobbed afterwards but insisted they were happy tears. ‘It’s celebrations not commiserations,’ she said. ‘I got back to the athletes’ village about 3.30am. My soft tissue therapist and a few of the other guys were waiting so we had a glass of champagne outside. It’s been a while since I had any alcohol.’

Derry Suter, the therapist, her physio Alison Rose and coach Toni Minichiello, who has been with her since she was a schoolgirl, have earned their keep over the last 21 months since Ennis-Hill committed to making a comeback after having son Reggie, now two.

At first she could not lift weights above her head and the explosive power which makes her such a phenomenal athlete was sapped. But she balanced the enormous joys and challenges of being a new mother with a gruelling training regime, battling persistent Achilles injuries along the way.

Having the World Championships in London next year offers incentive to continue but Ennis-Hill gave the impression she will not be there. ‘So many athletes don’t know when it’s the time to retire,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be that athlete who fizzles out. I don’t want to spend a year or two chasing bits and being injured. I want to end on a high.’

Ennis-Hill was attempting to become only the third woman successfully to defend an Olympic title after having a child in the intervening four years.

‘I gave what I had on those two days,’ she said. ‘It amounted to a silver medal so there’s no element of disappointment. That’s what I was capable of in this stage in my career on those two days. I’m very proud of that.’

At 30, her fierce competitive spirit is undiminished. In the high jump she cleared 1.89m and she was characteristically consistent across the board. Her points tally of 6,775 was her highest since 2012, better than when she won world championships gold in Beijing last summer.

Ennis-Hill will go on holiday with Reggie and husband Andy before making a decision about her future. Minichiello has left the door open for her to return.

He said: ‘She has to decide, “Am I satisfied, am I happy?” because I’d hate for her to say somewhere down the line, “Ooh, I’m going to make a comeback for Tokyo”.’

Ennis-Hill was already considering what her legacy might be.

‘I just want to be remembered as one of the great athletes that came into the heptathlon,’ she said.

‘I look back at my career in amazement. It really has been unbelievable.’