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Jessica Ennis

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Jessica Ennis-Hill
CBE
Jessica Ennis - long jump - 3.jpg
Jessica Ennis at the Yorkshire Track and Field Championships in 2010.
Personal information
Born (1986-01-28) 28 January 1986
Sheffield, England
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 57 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Country England
Club City of Sheffield Athletic Club
Turned pro 2005
Achievements and titles
World finals 2007 - 4th
2009 - 1st
2011 - 2nd
Olympic finals 2012 - 1st
Highest world ranking Heptathlon: 1 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Personal best(s)

Heptathlon 6,955 points

Pentathlon 4,965 points
Updated on 18 September 2012.

Jessica Ennis-Hill, CBE (born 28 January 1986) is a British track and field athlete specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. A member of the City of Sheffield Athletic Club, she is the current Olympic heptathlon champion. She is also the former European and world heptathlon champion and the former world indoor pentathlon champion. She is the current British national record holder for the heptathlon, the indoor pentathlon, the high jump and the 100 metres hurdles.

Early life and education

Born in Sheffield, Jessica Ennis is one of two daughters of Vinnie Ennis and Alison Powell, and has a younger sister named Carmel. Her father, originally from Jamaica, is a self-employed painter and decorator; her mother, a social worker, was born in Derbyshire. Neither of her parents was particularly athletic, but her father did some sprinting at school whilst her mother favoured the high jump. They introduced her to athletics by taking her to a 'Start:Track' event at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium during the 1996 school summer holidays. In later years she joked that her parents took her to the event because "I think my mum and dad wanted me out of the house!" She won her first athletics prize there – a pair of trainers. More importantly, it was there that she met the man who was to become her coach, Toni Minichiello. She took to the sport immediately and joined the City of Sheffield Athletic Club the following year, aged eleven. In November 2000, aged fourteen, she won the Sheffield Federation for School Sports Whitham Award for the best performance by a Sheffield athlete at the National Schools Championships, where she won the high jump competition.

Growing up in the Highfield area of Sheffield, Ennis attended Sharrow Primary School and King Ecgbert School in Dore, where she did her GCSEs and stayed on in the sixth form to gain three A-Levels, before going on to study psychology at the University of Sheffield and graduating in 2007 with a 2:2.

Personal life

Ennis lives in Sheffield and has a pet chocolate Labrador Myla. She became engaged to long-term boyfriend Andy Hill on Christmas Eve 2010; they married at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Hathersage, Derbyshire, on 18 May 2013. After the wedding she announced via social media sites that she would be known as 'Mrs Jessica Ennis-Hill'.

She is a fan of Sheffield United and likes to watch television programmes Big Brother, Sex And The City, Smallville, Heroes and 24.

Ennis is a patron of the Sheffield Children's Hospital charity and of businessman Barrie Wells's sports foundation. She is also an Ambassador for the Jaguar Academy of Sport. She writes a column for The Times newspaper and has been involved in advertising campaigns for Aviva, Powerade, BP, Adidas, Omega watches and Olay 'Essentials', and was featured on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. In February 2013, Ennis became one of the 'new faces' of Santander UK's advertising campaign.

Athletics career

Coaching and professional support

Ennis's full-time coach is UK Athletics national coach for combined events Antonio 'Toni' Minichiello, who has coached her since she was eleven years old. She also receives specialist javelin coaching from World Championships bronze medallist and European Championships silver medallist Mick Hill. Her other support staff are Ali Rose (physiotherapist), Derry Suter (soft tissue therapist), Steve Ingham (physiologist) and Dr Paul Brice (biomechanicist). She is represented by Jane Cowmeadow and Suzi Stedman at JCCM. Ennis and her support staff are together nicknamed Team Jennis.

Junior competitions and early senior career

Ennis took part in athletics from a young age. She competed in the high jump and pentathlon at the English Schools AAA Junior Girls in 1999, then won the AAA Girls title in the high jump the following year at the age of fourteen, clearing 1.70 metres. In 2001 she was runner-up at the high jump and heptathlon events in the English Schools AAA Intermediate section and won the high jump in 2002 with a jump of 1.80 metres. Ennis established herself as one of Britain's top junior athletes at the AAA U20 Championships in 2003 as she took the indoor pentathlon title and outdoor 100 metres hurdles title.

Ennis competed at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada in July, where after leading at the end of the first day she finished in fifth position with 5,311 points.

The following year Ennis competed in the 2004 World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy, where she finished eighth with 5,542 points, again after leading at the end of the first day.

Ennis won two silver medals, in the 100 metres hurdles and the high jump, at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia, held in November and December 2004, and won the heptathlon at the July 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, with a British junior record score of 5,891 points.

Ennis's first senior international competition was the 2005 Universiade, held in August in İzmir, Turkey, where she won a bronze medal in the heptathlon with a new personal best of 5,910 points, behind winner Lyudmila Blonska and second-placed Simone Oberer.

One of Ennis's first victories as a senior came in February 2004, when she was eighteen years old. She won the 60 metres hurdles at the Northern Senior Indoor Championships in a time of 8.60 seconds. Two weeks earlier she had won three Northern Junior Indoor Championship titles: the 60 metres sprint, the 60 metres hurdles and the high jump. Also in February Ennis finished third in the 60 metres hurdles at the AAA Indoor Championships in Sheffield in a time of 8.43 seconds.

At the July 2005 AAA Championships Ennis competed in the 100 metres hurdles, in which she recorded a personal best time of 13.26 seconds, and the high jump.

2006

Ennis won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia with a personal best score of 6,269 points, improving her previous best total by more than 350 points. Her high jump of 1.91 metres would have been enough to take the individual event gold medal. She achieved personal bests in the high jump, the 200 metres and the javelin. Before the competition her aim was merely to score over 6,000 points. The competition was won by Kelly Sotherton with 6,396 points, with Kylie Wheeler second on 6,298 points.

At the AAA Championships in July Ennis competed in the 100 metres hurdles, in which she recorded a personal best time of 13.19 seconds in the heats, and the high jump. In July, Ennis guided the Great Britain women's team to a fourth place finish in the overall competition at the European Cup Combined Events Super League competition in Arles, France with a combined points total of 17,454. Ennis finished fourth in the individual standings with a points total of 6,170.

Later in 2006 Ennis improved her personal best with a score of 6,287 points when finishing eighth at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ennis produced personal bests in the shot put, the 200 metres and the javelin. The medallists were Carolina Klüft (6,740 points), Karin Ruckstuhl (6,423 points) and Lilli Schwarzkopf (6,420 points).

2007

In January, Ennis set a new personal best of 8.24 seconds in the 60 metres hurdles at the Loughborough indoor meeting, whilst in February, at the UK Indoor City Challenge Cup in Sheffield, she set personal bests of 7.43 seconds in the 60m and 6.19 metres in the long jump.

Ennis finished sixth in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championships, in Birmingham, improving her personal best score by more than 300 points to 4,716. In May she broke the British under-23 heptathlon record, set by Denise Lewis in 1994, by winning in Desenzano, Italy, with a score of 6,388 points. In doing so Ennis equalled the British high jump record of 1.95 metres and recorded personal bests in the 100 metres hurdles (13.12 seconds) and the long jump (6.40 metres).

At the European U-23 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, in July, Ennis won a bronze medal in the 100 metres hurdles in a time of 13.09 seconds, behind winner Nevin Yanit and Christina Vukicevic. Later in July, Ennis beat Kelly Sotherton into second place in European Cup Combined Events Super League competition in Szczecin, Poland, scoring 6,399 points, a personal best, beating her own British under-23 record. Ennis also led GB women to first place in the team competition. She set two lifetime bests in the process in the 800 metres and the javelin. At the end of July Ennis won the 100 metres hurdles in a time of 13.25 seconds at the Norwich Union World Trials & AAA Championships.

In August Ennis finished fourth at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, behind the winner Carolina Klüft, Lyudmyla Blonska and Kelly Sotherton, recording the fastest times in the three track events, including a personal best of 12.97 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles.

Ennis finished second overall in the 2007 World Combined Events Challenge, a competition based on points accumulated at any three of the year’s thirteen qualifying events, behind the Osaka silver-medallist, Lyudmyla Blonska. The following year Blonska was banned for life for her second career doping offence.

In September, Ennis won the inaugural " European Athletics Rising Star" Award.

2008

In January Ennis set new indoor personal bests of 8.18 seconds in the 60 metres hurdles and 6.33 metres in the long jump at the Norwich Union International Match at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.

At the Norwich Union Trials and UK Championships in Sheffield in early February, which she entered despite deciding not to compete in the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Ennis finished third in the 60 metres hurdles in a time of 8.20 seconds and won the high jump with 1.92 metres.

In May Ennis withdrew from the heptathlon competition at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria after the first day's events citing pain in her right foot. A scan later revealed the injury as stress fractures of the navicular and a metatarsal of the right foot. As a consequence she missed that year's Olympic Games in Beijing and the rest of the 2008 season.

2009

After a twelve-month lay-off due to injury, Ennis returned to competition at the World Combined Events Challenge in Desenzano del Garda in May, winning the event with a personal best score of 6,587 points, including an 800 metres personal best, also breaking Liliana Năstase's 16-year-old meeting record in the process. Ennis's foot injury meant she had to change her take-off leg in the long jump from right to left. At the UK Championships in Birmingham in July Ennis won the high jump and 100 metres hurdles.

In August, Ennis won the gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin with a personal best points total of 6,731, 238 points ahead of silver medallist Jennifer Oeser of Germany and Poland's Kamila Chudzik. Ennis led the competition from the first event and posted a personal best of 14.14 metres in the shot put, whilst her first day points total of 4,124 points was the third-best first-day heptathlon score ever, behind world record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee and European record holder Carolina Klüft. Ennis's World Championships points total of 6,731, 238 points was the highest heptathlon score in 2009.

To commemorate her World Championship victory, Sheffield City Council held a reception for Ennis in the city’s Peace Gardens, at which she was presented with a Mulberry designer handbag and a canteen of Sheffield cutlery.

Ennis was chosen as the "British Athlete of the Year" by the British Athletics Writers' Association (BAWA) and "Sportswoman of the Year" award by the Sports Journalists' Association.

Ennis also came third in the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, behind Formula One world champion Jenson Button and winner Ryan Giggs of Manchester United.

2010

In January 2010, Ennis captained the GB & NI team that won the Aviva International Match at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. Ennis caused a surprise in winning the 60 metres hurdles in a British record time of 7.95 seconds, two hundredths of a second ahead of world indoor champion Lolo Jones. Afterwards Jones, who hadn't lost in over two years in her event, expressed shock at being beaten by a multi-eventer, saying; "I’m looking forward to not letting heptathletes beat me when I’m only working on one thing. That’s kind of crazy." At the same meeting Ennis set a new indoor personal best in the high jump of 1.94 metres.

Jessica Ennis with Double World Championship Award

At the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, Ennis became the World Indoor Champion for the pentathlon with a new British, Commonwealth and Championship Record score of 4,937 points, finishing ahead of all three Beijing heptathlon medal winners, Nataliya Dobrynska, Hyleas Fountain and Tatyana Chernova. As a consequence Ennis became the first British woman to win world titles both indoors and outdoors.

At the end of May, Ennis returned to the 2010 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria, where she injured her ankle in 2008, winning the heptathlon with 6,689 points. At the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League meeting in New York in Ennis set a personal best of 6.51 metres in the long jump.

Ennis won the heptathlon gold medal at the 2010 European Championships with a personal best and European Championship Record score of 6,823 points, eight points short of Denise Lewis's British and Commonwealth Records. Her European Championships points total of 6,823&nbsp proved to be the highest heptathlon score of 2010. She recorded a personal best in the javelin of 46.71 metres.

As in 2009, Ennis was named "British Athlete of the Year" by the BAWA and "Sportswoman of the Year" by the SJA. She was also named "Outstanding Female Athlete" at the Commonwealth Sports Awards, despite not competing in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, won "The Best British Athletic Performance of 2010" at the UK Aviva Athletics Awards, and was awarded the Dame Marea Hartman Award, given annually to the outstanding English female athlete of the year.

Ennis was nominated for a Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year after she came back from injury to become world champion in 2009 (winner Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters), for the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year, and for "European Athlete of the Year", (both won by Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic).

Ennis came third for the second year in succession in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, behind the winner, jump jockey Tony McCoy, and darts player Phil Taylor.

In 2010 Ennis was awarded a D.Litt Honorary degree from the University of Sheffield for her contribution to sport.

2011

In her first competition of 2011 at the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield in mid January Ennis set an indoor personal best of 14.11 metres in the shot put a record she improved by 50 centimetres a week later at an indoor meeting in Loughborough. Later that month at the annual Aviva International in Glasgow, Ennis won the 60 metres hurdles in a time of 7.97 seconds, again beating Lolo Jones.

At the Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships in Sheffield Ennis pulled out of the high jump, and the rest of the meeting, after clearing 1.88 metres, citing "tightness" in her ankle. As a consequence she withdrew from the 2011 European Indoor Championships. The injury was diagnosed as inflammation of the plantaris muscle.

In May Ennis won the heptathlon at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria, for the second consecutive year, recording 6,790 points, 101 more than in 2010 and 33 points below her personal best, beating Russia's Tatyana Chernova by 251 points. Ennis recorded personal best times in the 200 metres (23.11 seconds) and the 800 metres (2 minutes 8.46 seconds).

At the Aviva UK Trials and Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham Ennis competed in five events, equalling her outdoor personal best in the shot put (14.25 metres) and winning the high jump. Later at Loughborough Ennis recorded a personal best of 12.79 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles to place her second on the British all-time list.

Ennis during the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu

At the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Ennis finished second to Tatyana Chernova with a score of 6,751 points, 129 points behind the winner and 72 points below her own personal best of 6,823 points. Although Ennis beat Chernova in five of the seven events, her defeat was largely due to Chernova scoring 251 more points in the javelin (52.95 metres, compared with Ennis's best throw of 39.95 metres). Ennis registered personal bests of 14.67 metres in the shot put and 2 minutes 7.81 seconds in the 800 metres, whilst also equalling her best of 6.51 metres in the long jump.

Ennis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to athletics.

In June 2011 Ennis was inducted into the Sheffield Legends 'Walk of Fame', alongside other well-known people born in or connected with Sheffield, who are honoured by plaques set in the pavement outside the Town Hall. The following month a lifesize model of Ennis was shown at Madame Tussaud's in London.

In October Ennis was voted "British Athlete of the Year" for the third consecutive year by the British Athletic Writers' Association.

2012

Competing at the Yorkshire Track and Field Championships 2012 at the Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre, Cudworth, South Yorkshire

At the Aviva UK Trials and Championships at the English Institute of Sport in early February, Ennis won the high jump, clearing 1.91 metres, and finished sixth in the shot put, with a best throw of 14.09 metres. The following day Ennis won the 60 metres hurdles in an equal personal best time of 7.95 seconds.

Ennis recorded two indoor personal bests at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on 18 February; 7.87 seconds in the 60 metres hurdles and 6.47 metres in the long jump.

Ennis finished second at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey in March 2012, behind Nataliya Dobrynska, who set a new world record of 5,013 points. In finishing second Ennis recorded a personal best and national record of 4,965 points, also recording indoor personal bests in the shot put (14.79 metres) and 800 metres (2:08.09).

In May, Ennis ran 12.75 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles at the Powerade Great City Games in Manchester, beating 2008 Olympic gold medallist Dawn Harper and 2011 World Championship silver medallist Danielle Carruthers. The event was notable for there being only nine hurdles instead of the regulation ten due to an administrative error.

Ennis broke Denise Lewis's British heptathlon record at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria, recording a total of 6,906 points, thus becoming the eighth woman to score over 6,900 points. Ennis's performance included personal bests in the 200 metres (22.88 seconds) and javelin (47.11 metres), whilst she equalled her personal best in the long jump (6.51 metres). Ennis beat Tatyana Chernova by 132 points.

Ennis participated in three events at the Aviva UK Trials at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, winning the high jump with a season's best of 1.89 metres, the 100 metres hurdles in 12.92 seconds, beating Tiffany Porter into second place, and finishing sixth in the long jump with 6.27 metres.

In August, Ennis won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the London Olympics with a British and Commonwealth record score of 6,955 points, beating silver medallist Lilli Schwarzkopf by 306 points and bronze medallist Tatyana Chernova by a further 21 points. At the end of the first day Ennis had scored 4,158 points, her highest ever first-day total, and was 184 points ahead of her nearest competitor Austra Skujyte. Ennis' first-day score included two personal bests: 12.54 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles and 22.83 seconds in the 200 metres. Her time in the 100 metres hurdles was a new British record and also the fastest time ever run in a heptathlon. It also equalled Dawn Harper's winning time for the women's 100 metres hurdles final in the 2008 Olympics. Ennis achieved another personal best of 47.49 metres in the javelin and won the final event, the 800 metres, in a time of 2:08.65. The following day Ennis announced she would not compete in the 100 metres hurdles individual event. Her time in the heptathlon 100 metres hurdles would have gained her fourth place in the individual final, and her time in the 200 metres would have placed her seventh in the individual event.

Ennis, along with other British 2012 Olympic gold medal winners, was featured on a special Royal Mail commemorative postage stamp and had a post box on the corner of Division Street and Holly Street in Sheffield city centre painted gold in her honour. The post box was vandalised within hours but repaired immediately by Royal Mail.

The Jessica Ennis Stand at Bramall Lane

Ennis was honoured in various ways. Sheffield artist/cartoonist Pete McKee paid tribute to her in a painting showing her driving an open-top sports car. Prints were to be sold for the benefit of the Sheffield Children's Hospital charity, of which Ennis is a patron. She was also featured on the cover of a special Olympic edition of The Beano as Ennis the Menace. Sheffield United announced that the Bramall Lane stand at their Bramall Lane stadium would be renamed The Jessica Ennis Stand. Henderson's Relish produced a special limited edition bottle of the condiment with a gold label instead of the usual orange. The label also made use of the company's slogan in relation to Ennis: "Congratulations Jessica - Strong and Northern". In early September Sheffield City Council voted unanimously to award her the Freedom of the City of Sheffield. Ennis was honoured on a 'Wall of Fame' in Sheffield Winter Garden bearing the names of sportspeople from the city who competed in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Henderson's Relish brought out to commemorate Jessica Ennis's Olympic Games gold medal

In mid August Ennis was welcomed back to Sheffield by an estimated twenty thousand people in Barker's Pool in the city centre. Afterwards a civic reception was held at the City Hall.

After winning "European Athlete of the Month" for May, Ennis was selected as EAA "European Female Athlete of the Year" in October, ahead of Anna Chicherova and Barbora Spotakova. Lord Sebastian Coe collected the award on Ennis's behalf as she was unable to attend the ceremony in Malta due to training commitments. In October she was also voted "British Olympic Athlete of the Year" in a public poll run by UK Athletics. Ennis obtained 48 per cent of the vote, narrowly beating Mo Farah. In the same month Ennis won "British Athlete of the Year" from the British Athletics Writers' Association for a fourth successive year, "Ultimate Olympian" at Cosmopolitan's Ultimate Woman of the Year Awards 2012, and also received nominations for IAAF "Female Athlete of the Year" and Sports Jornalists' Association "Sportswoman of the Year",. She then made the final shortlist of three for IAAF "Female Athlete of the Year", alongside Allyson Felix and Valerie Adams. The award went to Felix.

In November Ennis was named the Sunday Times "Sportswoman of the Year", and along with Victoria Pendleton and Ellie Simmonds won "British Ambassadors of the Year" at Harper's Bazaar's Women of the Year Awards 2012. The same month, Ennis was one of six women nominated for Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year and was nominated for William Hill "Sportswoman of the Year. Also in November Ennis's long-time coach Toni Minichiello was named "Coach of the Year" by Sports Coach UK, a body that supports sports training across the country. In December Ennis was chosen as the Jaguar Academy of Sports "Most Inspirational Sportswoman of the Year" and was voted "Sportswoman of the Year" by the Sports Journalists' Association. Ennis was voted into the top three of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for the third time, as runner-up to Bradley Wiggins and ahead of Andy Murray. Ennis was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to athletics. Ennis was named as the World Sportswoman of the year at the Laureus World Sport Awards.

Ennis's autobiography Unbelievable - From My Childhood Dreams to Winning Olympic Gold, was published on 8 November by Hodder and Stoughton and the same day she was guest of honour at the Christmas lights switch-on at a charity event at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, which raised over £8,000 for her nominated charity, the Sheffield Children's Hospital Make It Better appeal. In the book Ennis revealed that in 2010 UK Athletics head coach Charles Van Commenee put pressure on her and Toni Minichiello to move their training base to London, but both "believed in what we were doing in Sheffield and ... stayed strong".

In early November Toni Minichiello announced that Ennis would compete in the heptathlon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, a competition Ennis has not previously won, having taken the bronze medal in 2006 and not entering in 2010. The same month Ennis reiterated her desire to switch to the 100 metres hurdles in the long term, but added that it would not be before the World Championships in Moscow in 2013, where she would attempt to regain the heptathlon world title.

2013

The year began with uncertainty over the future of Ennis's coach Toni Minichiello and her primary training facility, the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. Minichiello's contract as the UK Athletics national coach for combined events expired at the end of 2012 and was not renewed as he was not prepared to move to Loughborough as part of the organisation's high-performance programme, whilst Sheffield City Council considered closing the Don Valley Stadium due to budget cuts. On 1 March Sheffield Council voted to close the stadium, a decision that Minichiello called 'a hefty, hefty blow' to Ennis's chances of retaining her Olympic title.

Ennis decided not to compete in the 2013 indoor season in order to concentrate on the outdoor World Championships in Moscow.

At at ceremony at Sheffield Town Hall at the end of March, Ennis received a scroll from John Campbell, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, recognising her award of the Freedom of the City.

Ennis made her season debut at an invitation meeting at Leeds Metropolitan University on 20 April. She won the javelin competition with a best throw of 44.56 metres. An ankle injury prevented her from competing in June, and she pulled out of meetings in Edinburgh, Olso and Tallin. She also missed the British Championships in mid July.

Competition record

SJA Award

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
2003 World Youth Championships Quebec, Canada 5th Heptathlon
2004 World Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 8th Heptathlon
2004 Commonwealth Youth Games Bendigo, Australia 2nd 100 m hurdles
2nd High Jump
2005 European Junior Championships Kaunas, Lithuania 1st Heptathlon
2005 Summer Universiade Izmir, Turkey 3rd Heptathlon
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 8th Heptathlon
2006 European Cup Arles, France 4th Heptathlon
4th Team event
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 3rd Heptathlon
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 6th Pentathlon
2007 European Cup Szczecin, Poland 1st Heptathlon
1st Team event
2007 European U-23 Championships Debrecen, Hungary 3rd 100 m hurdles
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 4th Heptathlon
2007 World Combined Events Challenge Monte Carlo, Monaco 2nd Heptathlon
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st Heptathlon
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 1st Pentathlon
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st Heptathlon
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 2nd Heptathlon
2012 World Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 2nd Pentathlon
2012 Summer Olympics London, United Kingdom 1st Heptathlon

National Championships

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
2007 UK Championships
+ Norwich Union European Indoor Championships Trials
3rd 60 m hurdles
1st High Jump
3rd Long jump
2007 UK Championships
+ Norwich Union World Championships Trials
1st 100 m hurdles
1st High Jump
2008 UK Championships
+ Norwich Union World Indoor Championships Trials
3rd 60 m hurdles
1st High Jump
2009 UK Championships
+ Aviva World Championships Trials
1st 100 m hurdles
1st High Jump
2011 UK Championships
+ Aviva World Championships Trials
2nd 100 m hurdles
1st High jump
3rd Long jump
7th Shot put
10th Javelin
2012 UK Championships
+ Aviva European Indoor Trials
1st 60 m hurdles
1st High jump
6th Shot Put
2012 UK Championships
+ Aviva Summer Olympic Trials
Birmingham, England 1st 100 m hurdles
1st High jump
6th Long jump

2003 World Youth Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.86 secs 1st 998 1st (998)
High jump 1.75 m 3rd 916 1st (1,914)
Shot put 10.13 m 11th 538 1st (2,452)
200 metres 24.56 secs 1st 928 1st (3,380)
Long jump 5.47 m 9th 691 (4,071)
Javelin 25.52 m 23rd 392 (4,463)
800 metres 2:18.21 4th 848 5th (5,311)
Heptathlon 5,311 5th

2004 World Junior Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.57 secs 2nd 1,040 2nd (1,049)
High jump 1.80 m 1st 978 1st (2,018)
Shot put 10.52 m 11th 564 2nd (2,582)
200 metres 24.23 secs 1st 959 1st (3,541)
Long jump 5.59 m 14th 726 4th (4,267)
Javelin 28.04 m 15th 440 7th (4,707)
800 metres 2:19.16 9th 835 8th (5,542)
Heptathlon 5,542 8th

2005 Summer Universiade

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.56 secs 1,041 (1,041)
High jump 1.87 m 1,067 (2,108)
Shot put 12.26 m 678 (2,786)
200 metres 24.43 secs 940 (3,726)
Long jump 6.22 m 918 (4,644)
Javelin 28.94 m 457 (5,101)
800 metres 2:21.08 809 (5,910)
Heptathlon 5,910 3rd Personal best, British Junior Record

2006 Commonwealth Games

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.32 secs 3rd 1,077 3rd (1,077)
High jump 1.91 m 1st 1,119 1st (2,196) Personal best
Shot put 11.87 m 8th 653 2nd (2,849)
200 metres 23.80 secs 3rd 1,000 2nd (3,849) Personal best
Long jump 6.15 m 5th 896 2nd (4,745)
Javelin 36.39 m 9th 598 2nd (5,343) Personal best
800 metres 2:12.66 5th 926 3rd (6,269)
Heptathlon 6,269 3rd Personal best

2006 European Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 13.33 secs 4th 1,075 4th (1,075)
High jump 1.86 m 4th 1,054 (2,129
Shot put 12.72 m 19th 709 (2,838) Personal best
200 metres 23.56 secs 1st 1,023 (3,861) Personal best
Long jump 6.19 m 11th 908 (4,769)
Javelin 36.65 m 23rd 603 (5,372) Personal best
800 metres 2:13.45 7th 915 (6,287)
Heptathlon 6,287 8th Personal best

2007 European Indoor Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
60 metres hurdles 8.22 secs 2nd 1,079 2nd (1,079)
High jump 1.91 m 1st 1,119 (2,198)
Shot put 13.28 m 10th 746 (2,944)
Long jump 6.19 m 9th 908 (3,852)
800 metres 2:17.03 9th 864 (4,716)
Pentathlon 4,716 6th Personal best

2007 World Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.97 secs 1st 1,129 1st (1,129) Beat Carolina Klüft (2nd, PB) and Kelly Sotherton (3rd, PB) in her heat
High jump 1.89 m 3rd 1,093 2nd (2,222) Carolina Klüft won with a jump of 1.95 m (PB)
Shot put 11.93 m 34th 656 4th (2,878) Dropped from 2nd to 4th in overall points standings
200 metres 23.15 secs 1st 1,064 4th (3,942) Beat Klüft (2nd, SB) and Sotherton (3rd, PB) in her heat
Long jump 6.33 m 9th 953 4th (4,895)
Javelin 38.07 m 26th 630 5th (5,525)
800 metres 2:11.39 1st 944 4th (6,469) Beat Kelly Sotherton (2nd) in her heat
Heptathlon 6,469 4th

2009 World Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.93 secs 1st 1,135 1st (1,135) Led by 76 points after opening event
High jump 1.92 m 1st 1,132 1st (2,267) Extended lead to 181 points
Shot put 14.14 m 5th 803 1st (3,070) Despite a personal best, her lead was reduced to 148 points
200 metres 23.25 secs 1st 1,054 1st (4,124) 3rd highest points scorer ever after first day of a heptathlon. Led by 307 points.
Long jump 6.29 m 9th 940 1st (5,064) Lead was reduced to 269 points after the fifth event.
Javelin 43.54 m 10th 735 1st (5,799) Lead was reduced to 171 points after penultimate event
800 metres 2:12.22 1st 932 1st (6,731) Increased lead by 67 points to 238 by winning the final heat.
Heptathlon 6,731 1st New World Champion. Beat Jennifer Oeser by 238 points.

2010 World Indoor Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
60 metres hurdles 8.04 secs 1st 1,120 1st (1,120)
High jump 1.90 m 1st 1,106 1st (2,226)
Shot put 14.01 m 5th 795 1st (3,021) Personal Best
Long jump 6.44 m 3rd 988 1st (4,009) Personal Best
800 metres 2:12.55 2nd 928 1st (4,937) Personal Best
Pentathlon 4,937 1st New World Indoor Champion, new Championship Record

2010 European Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.95 secs 1st 1,132 1st (1,132) Led by 63 points after opening event
High jump 1.89 m 1st 1,093 1st (2,225) Extended lead to 134 points
Shot put 14.05 m 6th 797 1st (3,022) Lead was reduced to 11 points
200 metres 23.21 secs 1st 1,058 1st (4,080) Increased her lead to 110 points
Long jump 6.43 m 4th 985 1st (5,065) Lead was reduced to 68 points
Javelin 46.71 m 8th 796 1st (5,861) Despite a Personal Best her lead was reduced to 18 points
800 metres 2:10.18 1st 962 1st (6,823) Points total of 6,823 was a new Personal Best and European Championship Record.
Heptathlon 6,823 1st New European Champion, New Championship Record, beat Nataliya Dobrynska by 45 points.

2011 World Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.94 secs 2nd 1,133 2nd (1,133) Trailed Hyleas Fountain by 2 points
High jump 1.86 m 2nd 1,054 2nd (2,187) Trailed Hyleas Fountain by 41 points
Shot put 14.67 m 7th 839 1st (3,026) New PB, took lead (over Austra Skujyte) by 12 points
200 metres 23.27 secs 1st 1,052 1st (4,078) Increased lead (now over Tatyana Chernova) to 151 points
Long jump 6.51 m 2nd 1,010 1st (5,088) Matched PB, lead reduced to 118 points
Javelin 39.95 m 21st 666 2nd (5,754) 133 points behind Tatyana Chernova
800 metres 2:07.81 2nd 997 2nd (6,751) New PB, 129 points behind Tatyana Chernova
Heptathlon 6,751 2nd Silver medal, with her 3rd best career points total

2012 World Indoor Championships

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
60 metres hurdles 7.91 secs 1st 1,150 1st (1,150) 86 points ahead of Tatyana Chernova
High jump 1.87 m 3rd 1,067 1st (2,217) 109 points ahead of Austra Skujyte
Shot put 14.79 m 4th 847 1st (3,064) 10 points ahead of Austra Skujyte (personal best)
Long jump 6.19 m 7th 908 3rd (3,972) 6 points behind Austra Skujyte, 93 points behind Nataliya Dobrynska
800 metres 2:08.09 secs 1st 993 2nd (4,965) 48 points behind Nataliya Dobrynska (indoor personal best)
Pentathlon 4,965 2nd Silver medal, with her personal best career points total and national record

2012 Olympic Games

Event Result Position Points Overall Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.54 secs 1st 1,195 1st (1,195) Personal Best, 17 ahead of Jessica Zelinka
High jump 1.86 m 5th 1,054 1st (2,249) 25 ahead of Hyleas Fountain
Shot put 14.28 m 9th 813 2nd (3,062) 64 behind Austra Skujyte
200 metres 22.83 secs 1st 1,096 1st (4,158) Personal Best, 184 ahead of Austra Skujyte
Long jump 6.48 m 2nd 1,001 1st (5,159) 258 ahead of Austra Skujyte
Javelin 47.49 m 10th 812 1st (5,971) Personal Best, 188 ahead of Austra Skujyte
800 metres 2:08.65 secs 1st 984 1st (6,955) 306 ahead of Lilli Schwarzkopf
Heptathlon 1st 6,955 1st Gold Medal, with her personal best career points total and national record

Personal bests

By clearing 1.95 metres in the high jump, Ennis achieved a foot (30 cm) above her own height of 1.65 metres which only ten women have ever managed, it also meant that she became the joint British women's high jump record holder.

Her personal best of 12.54 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles is the world best time in the heptathlon and matches the winning time for the women's 100 metres hurdles as an individual event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is also a British Record in the individual event.

Ennis is the British all-time leader for the heptathlon with 6,955 points, breaking Olympic gold-medallist Denise Lewis's previous record of 6,831 points. If Ennis managed to equal all of her personal bests in one heptathlon competition, she would achieve a total of 7,120 points. Lewis's equivalent personal best total would be 6,970 points.

Outdoor Personal Bests

Event Record Points Venue Date Notes
100 metres hurdles 12.54 secs 1,195 London, England 3 August 2012 2012 Summer Olympics. British record, world heptathlon record.
High jump 1.95 m 1,171 Desenzano del Garda, Italy 5 May 2007 British record, jointly held with Diana Davies and Susan Moncrieff.
Shot put 14.67 m 839 Daegu, South Korea 29 August 2011
200 metres 22.83 secs 1,096 London, England 3 August 2012
Long jump 6.51 m 1,010 New York, United States & Daegu, South Korea & Götzis, Austria 12 June 2010, 30 August 2011 & 27 May 2012
Javelin 47.49 m 812 London, England 4 August 2012
800 metres 2:07.81 997 Daegu, South Korea 30 August 2011
Heptathlon 6,955 pts 7,120 (potential) London, England 4 August 2012 2012 Summer Olympics. British record, Commonwealth Record

Indoor Personal Bests

Event Record Venue Date Notes
60 metres 7.36 secs Sheffield, England 16 January 2010
60 metres hurdles 7.87 secs Birmingham, England 18 February 2012
High jump 1.94 m Glasgow, Scotland 30 January 2010 Joint 2nd highest ever by a British High jumper indoors.
Shot put 14.79 m Istanbul, Turkey 9 March 2012
Long Jump 6.47 m Birmingham, England 18 February 2012
800 metres 2:08.09 Istanbul, Turkey 9 March 2012
Pentathlon 4,965 pts Istanbul, Turkey 9 March 2012 British Record, Commonwealth Record

Progression of best heptathlon score

Date Competition Venue Points
15 July 2001 AAA Junior Championships Bedford, England 4,711
5 August 2001 v France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland Bedford, England 4,801
23 June 2002 AAA Junior Championships Wrexham, Wales 4,837
4 August 2002 v Switzerland, France, Germany Pratteln, Switzerland 5,194
9 May 2004 Multistars Meeting Desenzano, Italy 5,364
17 July 2004 World Junior Championships Grossetto, Italy 5,542
5 May 2005 Multistars Meeting Salò, Italy 5,827
24 July 2005 European Junior Championships Kaunas, Lithuania 5,891
16 August 2005 Summer Universiade Izmir, Turkey 5,910
22 March 2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 6,269
8 August 2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 6,287
6 May 2007 Multistars Meeting Desenzano, Italy 6,388
8 July 2007 European Cup Combined Events Szczecin, Poland 6,399
26 August 2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 6,469
10 May 2009 Multistars Meeting Desenzano, Italy 6,587
16 August 2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 6,731
31 July 2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 6,823
27 May 2012 Hypo Meeting Götzis, Austria 6,906
4 August 2012 Olympic Games London, England 6,955

Miscellany

Ennis is only the second Sheffield-born person to win an Olympic track and field gold medal. The first was Archie Robertson, born Harthill, Sheffield, who won a gold in the three-mile team race at London 1908. He also won a silver medal in the 3,200 metres steeplechase.

Other Sheffield-born athletes to win Olympic track and field medals are:

  • Sheila Sherwood, born Parson Cross, Sheffield - silver medal, long jump, Mexico 1968
  • Ernest Glover, born Darnall, Sheffield - bronze medal, cross-country team race, Stockholm 1912
  • William Cottrill, born Woodhouse, Sheffield - bronze medal, 3,000 metres team race, Stockholm 1912

Other Olympic medal-winning athletes associated with Sheffield but who were born elsewhere are:

  • Sebastian Coe, born Chiswick, Middlesex, member of Hallamshire Harriers and Athletic Club - gold medal, 1,500 metres, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984; silver medal, 800 metres, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984
  • Ernest Harper, born Clay Cross, Derbyshire, member of Hallamshire Harriers and Athletic Club - silver medal, marathon, Berlin 1936
  • Harold A. Wilson, born Horncastle, Lincolnshire, member of Hallamshire Harriers and Athletic Club - gold medal, three-mile team race; silver medal, 1,500 metres, London 1908
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