Jessica Ennis-Hill and the Next Generation

It's strange to be back at a place where I spent

so much of my athletic life.

There are so many happy memories here,

tough times as well as the very best.

It's where I learned how to be an athlete.

It's where I prepared for the biggest challenges of my career.

The pride of Sheffield, the pride of Great Britain,

Jessica Ennis is the Olympic champion.

New challenges await me now as my athletic career is behind me,

so it's time for the new generation to step forward.

And over the next half an hour, we'll be looking at

some of those individuals who I'm hoping are going to follow

in my footsteps at the World Championships in London next week.

I'm just pulling up here in Loughborough to meet Sophie Hitchon.

She and I were both amongst the medals last year in Rio

and it was a really exciting time.

And for me it was nearly the perfect ending to an amazing career,

but for her, winning that bronze medal in the hammer,

it was the start of a really, really exciting journey.

Last roll of the dice for Sophie Hitchon.

Oh, it's down the middle. It hangs in the air.

Is it big enough?

It is!

Sophie Hitchon has saved her best for last.

Hello. Hello! How are you? Good, thanks, how are you?

It's a new lifetime best. It's 74.54.

She's guaranteed the bronze medal.

Nice to be back in Loughborough. Really?

I feel nervous, coming here,

because I always feel like I'm about to compete.

How has life changed since coming back from Rio

and winning your bronze medal?

It's difficult to say, really, because I always think...

People ask me that and I'm like, it hasn't really changed.

Because I think, as an athlete, you're always looking on

to the next thing and I think it's difficult,

always, coming off the back of a really good year

because it just goes really fast. Yeah.

You'll have plenty of time to reflect when you retire,

so you don't have to worry.

So, growing up in Burnley as a kid, were you always into athletics

or was it something that came on a bit later in your life?

So, I was always involved in athletics, and my family was,

and I grew up around it. And my mum has a picture of us

at an athletics meet when I was a little baby.

And, yeah, I was only a few days old,

so I've always grown up around it.

But I didn't really start competing until I was quite a bit older,

about 13, 14 I started competing.

But I've been round it my whole life,

so it wasn't too difficult to get into.

So was it your parents that did athletics as well? Yeah.

What events did they do?

So, my dad was a sprinter, did, like, the 100 and that.

He won English Schools in his day. Oh, wow! Yeah.

I'm his clone, in many ways.

You've outshone him now, though.

And then my mum was a club athlete,

so I was kind of raised around athletic competitions and stuff.

But I didn't start competing until I was about 13 and I kind of started

doing sprints and shot put and kind of the easy events, and then...

They're not the easy events, shot put is really hard!

Well, I mean, it's easy to pick up, you know, just pick one up,

and it's easier than hammer or hurdles on something. Yeah.

Did you enjoy hammer from day one?

Because I know for me, with the heptathlon,

I absolutely hated it at the beginning.

I remember doing it for the first time

and not being able to let go and I was like, "I'm going to hit myself,"

which is basically impossible, but, you know, it's...

But, yeah, I was like, "Oh, I can't do it,"

and I think the mind-set of an athlete is always like

you want it to be perfect, so if you don't get it right

the first time, you're like, "I'm not going to do it again."

I didn't feel like I was going to be good at it,

Kind of got really frustrated and, you know, things weren't...

I couldn't let go and it wasn't, just wasn't how I wanted it to be.

And then I kind of kept going and got a little bit of success and

I think when you're a young athlete you kind of live off

that little bit of success

and it kind of gives you confidence to go forwards.

Did you worry about that transition, going into senior level competition,

or was it something that you found quite easy to do?

I found it difficult...

..kind of, yeah, breaking through that barrier

to get into the senior level,

but obviously I came forth at the World Championships in 2015.

It was a real breakthrough for me and a real confidence-builder.

You know, yeah, I can really live in this environment

and I can compete against these girls,

and that was the real breakthrough moment for me, yeah.

Good.

Your coach, Tore, how does your relationship work?

Do you get on really well? Do you have times where you disagree?

We do get on really well,

but there are obviously times when it gets frustrating,

obviously when training is not going so well

and you're trying to work through things.

It is really difficult.

Like, it is that pressure cooker environment that, you know,

some days you're just... you're just difficult to deal with,

but I feel like he is good at dealing with it.

He's good at handling it. Yeah.

More from Sophie later in the programme,

where we'll be catching up with her at training.

But while she's already made an impact on the global scene,

for Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, his journey is just beginning.

Phil Jones caught up with him at the team's holding camp in Paris.

INTERVIEWER: Can I just ask you to do a loud clap

in front of your face, please?

That's for no other reason than he likes to...

Hey, I wouldn't be surprised!

I promise you, I wouldn't be surprised.

If I was in your position, I'd be like,

"Can you hold your ear and hop on one foot, please?"

They're not going to say no to the BBC!

I was born in England, born in east London, Newham,

then I moved to Jamaica when I was 13,

resided there for five years

and then I got a track scholarship to a university in the States,

where I studied international trade and finance.

During the mix, I made a couple of teams.

I made the World Youth, I made European juniors,

and then I made the European senior team,

Olympic team and now World Championships.

It's been an incredible journey, an incredible rise.

Did you always think that was within you when you were in front of,

what, 30,000 fans in Jamaica?

Mentally I always thought I was capable of doing something,

but when you actually do it,

that's when you come to the actual realisation,

because it's now manifested,

your thoughts have manifested and become reality.

And that can only spur you to greater things

because you know that what you've dreamed off is attainable.

You've attained it, in actual fact. And it's motivated me.

Winning is contagious, you know,

and you want remain at that level and just stay focused and ensure

that the sacrifices you've made to get to this point,

they are paying off so it's all worth it.

Are they building blocks of belief that you're adding to

each time you run,

so you're kind of adding to those building blocks event by event?

Definitely, but you don't want to get too high on your highs

nor too low on your lows.

You have to be able to refocus, rechannel your energy

and understand there's more work to be done.

Winning trials, it was great, but then I had London Diamond League.

I didn't perform like I wanted to then. While I believe

I think I took a bit too much emotion from that occasion,

but I also believe what happened at London helped me

take a step back, allowed me to refocus

and understand there's a bigger picture, which is worlds.

And at the worlds, in your event it seems it's pretty much wide open.

Is that fair to say? Definitely. I believe every event is wide open.

You've got six guys under sub 20 and maybe eight guys under sub 10.

In previous years the numbers were much higher,

so I believe... Everybody believes within themselves that they can,

you know, do something special.

How important is it for you to know that you're one of those guys,

though, that can run sub 20?

And sub 10. And sub 10, yeah, you're one of the rare breeds.

But I'm just trying to run the 200.

I know I've done it and I know that I'm in better shape than

I was in last year, so it's just about piecing it together.

What matters is position, you know,

what matters is getting top two finish in the first two rounds

and then in the final, ultimately get a medal.

What about that experience from Rio?

Did it surprise you, being on a global stage, a senior stage?

Did you learn a massive amount from it, or not?

I learn every day, but Rio within itself was a big,

big learning curve for me and I think I needed it.

It's helped me become the person I am this year.

It's helped me understand sport on a world level,

an elite level, and what it takes to compete with the world's best.

And what about the attention that comes with more people

getting to know your name

and all the attention that goes around being more famous, maybe?

Is that something that sits OK with you?

I draw the positives from it all, you know.

I love the fact that people now believe in me, people are now

becoming familiar with my name and I only draw compliments from it.

It's exciting times for myself and hopefully I can channel

that energy onto the track and accomplish some special things.

And to have the championships in London,

it's going to give that added edge, that added excitement. Definitely.

And especially when you're from that area in the first place,

as you are, so how special is it for you?

Second to none.

I believe it's everybody's dream in their sport to be able to

compete in front of their home crowd

and for that to prophesise and actually come true

is something that I'm definitely not taking for granted

and I'm looking forward to it.

The sprint is going to be really competitive in London

and I'm really looking forward to watching it.

But one of the toughest events is going to be that women's 1,500m,

where Great Britain has a fantastic chance in Laura Muir.

She's already had success earlier on in the season

but she has struggled with some injury problems.

But she's back into great form

and Paula Radcliffe caught up with her in Monaco.

Laura Muir stretches away

and comes to win the gold medal for Great Britain.

European indoor champion and a new championship record,

a new British record.

INTERVIEWER: So, Laura, things are really picking up

to the World Championships

and you're coming in off an amazing indoor season

where you did that double.

She's now got two gold medals!

She's the champion again, and it's another record.

Just to contrast that a little bit,

because I remember the Laura Muir that kind of walked out

so distraught from the World Indoors in Sopot in 2014

and how much you have matured and taken those huge leaps forward,

so it has to feel that you are in a good place going into London.

Yeah, certainly.

I mean, I think I'm lucky, sort of, at this stage of my career,

I've got a lot of championships underneath my belt.

Yeah, I think, kind of 2013, 2014,

I was, you know, in good physical shape

but I think I had to catch up in terms of that mental side

of dealing with the championships and the pressure and everything.

But I think having gone through all that put me in good stead

and, yeah, I feel really relaxed and really confident ahead of London.

Coming into the championships,

I mean, you missed a little bit of training with the foot injury,

that, I guess to reassure people at home,

a lot of distance runners pick up at different points in their career.

Sometimes is it may be a good thing just to hold you back a little bit,

a little bit more frustration to come out and take out on racing?

Yeah, I mean, I think it wasn't until, sort of,

I was in the pool for a couple of weeks, you know, swimming

and aqua jogging and I think it's not until something is taken away

from you that you really appreciate how much you love your sport.

Yeah, it kind of gave me a fresh mind-set going back into it

and I kind of had to take two in the middle of July

but it's all going well so far.

We know you're in great shape and you're strong, you can

cope with the physical impact of doing the double,

but mentally, as well, is there a way that you go about it?

Do you think just first about the one event

and then move on to the second one?

Yeah, for me, it's almost kind of round by round.

So I won't even think about the 1500m final until I get there.

I want to concentrate on the heat and then the semis.

It's so easy to take it for granted that you're going to be in the final

but it's nerve-racking... Sometimes the hardest part

is to actually get through the rounds.

And the 1500m, would that be the one that you think you've probably got

the stronger chance in

or are you thinking they're pretty equal at this point?

I don't know, I'm quite inexperienced in the 5K

but I still think I can have a good shot at it.

And the competition for the 1500 is very, very strong just now.

The girls are running very fast.

For your top three, you've got Sifan Hassan, world lead this year.

Olympic champion, Faith Kipyegon,

and then the world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba,

so you've got the three big ones, yeah.

And then Laura Muir. And then me.

Coming home strong, with home support, as well,

which is a big advantage.

Are you going to be able to savour and enjoy some of that?

Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, I mean...

I mean, the atmosphere in there is always brilliant

and past Anniversary Games, the crowds there have been

fantastic and that's one of my sort of career highlights so far.

Laura Muir will be clock-watching all the way down here.

She's got this race won, that's for sure.

And Laura Muir, the new British record.

Kelly Holmes has been obliterated.

I always say I hate running against home athletes cos

they always seem to pull it out of the bag on the day,

so I hope we'll have a few British athletes

that really come into form over that championship.

While Laura Muir is on the verge of a breakthrough,

Shannon Hylton is right at the start of her career.

I remember how that felt, it's a really nerve-racking

but exciting time.

She's already won the 200m at the British trials

and she's one of two sets of sisters on the team,

with Laviai and Lina Nielsen,

and they're all really exciting prospects for the future.

Let's find out a little bit more about Shannon.

Shannon Hylton leading at the moment from Desiree Henry.

Henry trying to respond but it's Hylton and Henry competing.

And through comes Bianca Williams

but Shannon Hylton holds on to become the champion.

Held off the best of the rest.

To make my first senior individual home Champs is just amazing.

This year, I really had it in mind to qualify for the World Champs.

I did come off the back of last year quite in a bad way

but I really did want to qualify for the World Champs

and I just tried to work so hard and I'm so happy

that I've now qualified and I'm really excited.

I am so happy.

Shannon is... I'm going to get emotional but she is so tal...

She is talented, isn't she?

She's had such a year, full of injuries.

Some of them where you think, if it weren't for that, you could

have done so well and now she's going to London, so I'm so happy.

To be supported and have Dina alongside me is, like,

it's amazing because we're both flying the flag for, not only GB,

but for Blackheath Bromley as well, so that's really great.

My twin sister Cheriece, yeah, she's always there for me.

It's like we always go through things together

and it's just nice to have that person alongside you,

especially through the hard training sessions.

And she always gets it, to have someone there,

always knowing what you're going through.

It's just amazing to have,

like, a best friend as well as a training partner.

Coming back off the back of last year, it's taught me

a lot about myself, I learned a lot.

It was hard, but you've got to just pick yourself up

and bounce back and, yeah,

I've shown myself that I've got quite a strong character

and, yeah, I'm quite resilient and I just try and...

Like, my motto in life is to try

and always turn negatives into positives,

cos I know life as an athlete isn't always going to be plain sailing,

so, yeah, I've just got to bounce back and that's what I try to do.

It's great that British sprinting is in a really good place right now

and everyone's going to have to push themselves even further now

because the level is just getting higher and higher, so, yeah, it's

just reaching new limits and testing yourself and seeing what you can do.

It's really strange to be back in here because I spent

so many years training and moaning and lifting heavy weights

and this is the place that really made me as an athlete.

It's where I prepared for some of my biggest challenges in my career,

to get stronger and faster

and be able to contend with the women in the rest of the world,

so some really great memories here, but some really tough times as well.

The 800m was one of the events that I absolutely dreaded.

It was possibly the worst part of the heptathlon for me

and I could never imagine doing a marathon,

but for Josh Griffiths, his first was in London, where he finished as

the top GB male and also qualified for the World Championships.

What a fantastic story.

The London Marathon, that was going to be my first marathon.

I was hoping to run under 2:16,

which was the Wales Commonwealth Games qualifying time.

It was going to be a bit of a long shot but it was something

I had trained for a long time and I was looking forward to.

And there's an athlete wearing 1154,

who might have been in the mass race, could well be Josh Griffiths.

Now, this could be a real surprise here.

That's under 2:15.

Towards halfway,

I kind of caught up with some of the lead British runners

and, you know, still, I was just worrying about my watch and nothing

else, really, cos I thought, these guys are in a different race

and worked my way through the field and crossed the line,

realised what happened and it was just all crazy.

Could this man here be representing Great Britain

in the World Championships in London?

I kind of thought, wow, I think I've just qualified for London

but, you know, I didn't want to count my chickens or

anything like that, I just waited for the phone call a couple

of days later, cos I guess I just couldn't believe what was happening.

Well, I have the very best of British with me now.

What about the reaction from your fellow athletes

and people that you've been maybe running with for years?

Yeah, they were just really excited and, you know, I think

surprised as well, but excited more than anything that, you know,

I get to race at the Champs in the summer and I guess it

kind of makes them believe too that it can happen to them as well.

That's the great thing about running,

it's a true democracy because if you're good enough and you train

hard enough and you're fast enough, then you should get selected.

Do you feel that you've sort of become a poster boy as well

for club runners who can achieve amazing feats

and join the elite in the way you have? Yeah, definitely.

I mean, I know people probably better than me

who just haven't made the jump, really,

but you've just got to continue to work hard and believe

in yourself and what I achieved in London just shows it's possible.

If I got to become a full-time athlete or anything like that,

you know, it would be a dream come true, really,

as it is for any club athlete to make that jump.

The benefits of being here, I take it, as a newcomer to the team is you

can pick the brains of some of the more experienced people, like Hugh?

Yeah, there's a whole host of people here with loads of experience

so, you know, it's great to be able to chat to them,

kind of, you know, understand how the whole Champs atmosphere works

and things like that, dealing with nerves.

What a performance from him.

The London Marathon was amazing, the crowd there, and it's going to

be similar if not better at the World Champs this summer.

But, you know, hopefully this time, people will actually know my name

and can shout for me too.

Yeah, I'm just really looking forward to it,

it's going to be a great experience.

As a heptathlete, I've pretty much tried most of the events -

sprinting, hurdling, throwing - but racewalking is never an event

that I've tried and I don't think I'd be very good at it.

But Tom Bosworth, he finished sixth in Rio last year

and he's already broken a world record this season.

He told Steve Cram his story.

I felt a lot of pressure going into that race.

The noise in those last two laps.

Oh, I want to do it all again. It was that special.

The feeling was incredible. I wish I could bottle that up.

I had no idea I'd go that quickly.

COMMENTATOR: He knows he's heading toward something really special here.

When I saw the clock, as you could see from my reaction,

I couldn't believe how far under the time I was.

COMMENTATOR: Smashed it. A new world best.

It's been a phenomenal two or three years for you really, in terms

of the progress you've made, and Rio was a step in that.

I was never this world-class junior athlete, it has taken me

a long time to develop and get stronger and faster

and now I've finished top eight in an Olympic Games.

Also it's really stretching the field out now.

It is gutsy, courageous.

London I just want to back up what I did in Rio.

That was a complete shock. I finished about 30 places higher than

I was ranked, so showing that I'm being classed as a top-eight athlete

is what I want to do and with the training this year who knows?

And on home turf.

Given what you have said, then, what do you need to do to go to the

next stage which I guess is being in real medal contention?

Year on year, all I've ever done is try

and train better, eat better and just becoming more consistent,

getting that bit faster. I've done a lot more altitude this year

so I'm trying to look for those one percents.

And you are going to have this brilliant

opportunity in front of the home crowd on the streets of London,

what do you think that will be like?

Er... I'm hoping it'll be the best day of my life.

I missed London 2012 by 19 seconds, I missed the qualifying time

so that was agony for me

and I remember thinking about London a few years later,

how far away that feels and now we're here

but I never dreamt I'd be a contender on the day and I've said

it before, but it's like the 12 man in football - having a home

crowd behind you and, for me, it's so inspiring

and I hope I can inspire others and put the performance in.

Is there a danger that you get carried away with the occasion?

Yeah, it's a 20k race.

I can't go flying off at the beginning. So, something

I'm really proud of is I'm quite mentally strong

so I think I can hopefully almost put the cheers

and the nerves to one side, focus on the job in hand

and then, when the crowds need to... I need their help, that's

when I'll tune into them and hopefully they'll help me home.

You were talking about altitude and your training,

you're very much part of the endurance community now

and you come on camps with Mo and the rest of the guys,

how important has that been you?

I've loved it.

For me, personally,

for racewalking it's like coming in from the cold into the team

and we're away from home a lot of the time and so if you can be

friends with these people when you're away from home,

that makes life a lot easier and training

and that environment far more enjoyable, just by spending

time with these people and training with them

and seeing that I work just as hard as they do

and they can actually relate.

It is not this strange event that nobody knows anything about.

You're leading the way, obviously, and your performance in Rio

must have helped in terms of that exposure,

do you feel as though you can't just concentrate on being as good a

race walker as you can be, but you have to be a flag-bearer as well?

Yeah, I've said recently it's nice there are other guys and girls

now coming through.

Five qualified for London but they're not just good,

they're getting world-class already,

a lot quicker than I did so that's great.

I'm going to end up being beaten soon enough by another Brit

and that's great for the event.

For me, it is great because I have got to that point I'm world-class

and for them to beat me they have to be world-class,

I'm really pleased to have started that journey for racewalking and

the depth will grow and grow whilst we have the talent coming through.

Back in Loughborough, hammer coach Tore Gustafsson

is overseeing a training session with Sophie Hitchon.

In the weeks leading up to a major event

getting the balance right between physical

and technical work is really important.

How many times a week do you throw?

We throw every session, so every session that we do, we throw.

I think hammer's one of those events it is not that much

impact on your body.

We are starting on the descent into the competition so it gets

to the point where you don't train so much, it's not as strenuous.

And how are you feeling, are you excited?

I don't know about you but I always felt

I just wanted to know what would happen.

I wanted to know how everything was going to pan out

and you have no way of telling. You need a crystal ball!

It's incredible to see the speed she turns and the coordination

it takes to do that, I can't imagine throwing a hammer ever.

It's amazing to watch.

Keep your head going with the ball. It's good.

To me, that looked smooth and incredible but how was it?

You know, you're not going to train now, now you just

basically warm up and get the feeling and shut it down.

And the rest of it is just make sure you have pop in your legs,

and a bit of confidence.

It is simple but it is hard to do so don't make it more complicated

because it is all ready hard to do so, "Oh, this..." No, it's fine.

It's good. Are you looking forward to the Worlds now,

are you getting excited?

Yeah, I mean, obviously for us, this is a process.

She's not going to be ready for another three, maybe five years,

it just takes time and the hardest thing has been to get

people to understand it because as soon as she starts to do good, then

they're all like... Want it all the time, yeah.

Yeah, demanding this and this. Get over it.

You're right, it is a process and something that takes... You have

to develop over time and with Tony he was so good at that.

Take your time, and as an athlete you want it now though.

Yeah, but it is my job to say, hey, get over it.

You are not that good yet.

You are going to be good soon, couple of years.

I think in general, I think everything she's doing is great

and all I want to see is she's better this year than she was

last year. Are you going to show it in every competition? No.

But to me it is like she hasn't even got close to the limit.

Well, you are doing a pretty good job so far. Stick with it.

Who's to say?

I think when you think you are good, that is when you have problems.

I think it's nice as well when you get a little....

once you win a medal and you just taste it a bit.

You have got to be really hungry.

I think you see it in some people they have that attitude,

if it doesn't work out, they get angry and that's what I want.

That's what you want.

I don't want somebody to explain why it didn't work out. Who cares?

It is over now. Get on with it.

Sophie seems pretty headstrong. Oh, she's an animal.

And she knows what she's doing, which is good.

The reason I think she does it,

you did it, is excitement. You can't get it anywhere else.

And you just go, and if you succeed it's like you're never

going to have that experience in your life ever.

It's the best feeling.

I'm excited for you guys.

We'll do our best, how's that? You'll be great. You'll be great.

It is a really exciting time for British athletics,

and although in many ways it's the end of a golden era,

where we bid farewell to some of the sports' big names,

there are some really exciting new faces coming through.

And for many of them, it's the start of their journey

at the World Championships in London next week,

and I'm really excited to see how the next generation gets on.

London. Are you ready?

Mo Farah wins the gold!

It is a mammoth jump!

David Rudisha is going to win the world title!

It is going to be Dafne Schippers!

Laura Muir now, she has smashed the British record.

Usain Bolt!

I'm ready.

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