OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Ennis admits pressure and emotion was almost too much

By James Toney and Tom Reynolds, Sportsbeat, at the Olympic Stadium

JESS Ennis blinked into the flashbulbs and rubbed her eyes. During these Games London sometimes feels like another city and she felt like she was on another world.

EPIC: Jessica Ennis celebrate her heptathlon Olympic gold at a jumping stadium in Stratford, no-one went home for her medal ceremony

Ennis is a pretty steely character but she didn’t try to hide her emotions as she received heptathlon gold from London 2012 chairman Seb Coe and 80,000 fans gave a full-throated rendition of God Save the Queen.

“When I crossed the line there was just so much emotion,” she said, her winning score of 6995 a new national record.

“There was so much pressure on me and I think it was just a combination of everything.

“It was so overwhelming because it has been one of my greatest goals.

“Heptathlon is one of the toughest events. I knew when I was coming in that I was in really, really good shape - I knew I was in the best condition of my life.

“The support that I have had has been unbelievable and I had that belief that I could do it.”

Ennis also knew she had the gold medal won heading into the final event, the 800m. 

Last year in Daegu she lost her world title because of a poor throw in the javelin, she said then she would learn from the mistake and she duly unleashed a 47.49 metre personal best in the penultimate event.

“It was obviously a problem last year in Daegu and let me down massively but at the same time I knew it wasn't a major problem,” she said.

“I just went home and put in a lot of hard work with my coach Mick Hill and I have been confident with it ever since.”

Ennis’s marketing value is set to rocket, whatever happens in the days ahead a combination of her athletic brilliance, good looks and girl next door charm will assure a healthy bank balance.

But Ennis - guided by her inspirational coach Toni Minichiello - certainly doesn’t do this for the money and she hopes her performance, and that of fellow British gold medallists Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah on a famous night for the sport, will leave a lasting legacy.

“To celebrate I will just go back to Sheffield see all my family and friends and have a huge celebration,” she said.

“To win three golds this evening has been incredible. I think we are hopefully inspiring a generation, you can see how everyone is getting behind us.”

© Sportsbeat 2012