Jessica Ennis-Hill Clare Balding Meets

With the Rio Olympics tantalisingly close,

I've been catching up with leading British sportsmen and women,

the ones who will carry the hopes of a nation,

and that's why I'm here at the English Institute of Sport,

a state-of-the-art facility in Sheffield,

to meet the greatest sportswoman in the world.

All round, there is no-one to beat her.

She's halfway through an average day of training

but that's only average if you're Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Jessica Ennis-Hill was the face of the 2012 Olympics.

Over the course of two days, she hurdled, ran, jumped and threw

her way to gold-medal success and into the hearts of the nation.

In Beijing 2015, just 13 months after the birth of her son,

she completed a fairy-tale comeback

to once more become heptathlon world champion.

And now, Jess is preparing

for perhaps her most difficult challenge -

defending her heptathlon title at the Rio Olympics.

I want to discover how she coped with the pressure

of being a gold-medal favourite at London 2012...

When I actually crossed the line and I knew I'd won, it was just...

I could breathe out a sigh of relief.

..how she balances training with being a mum

and learn what type of mum she is...

I am competitive and I do sometimes hear myself saying,

"Oh, Reggie's done this!"

..and most importantly,

I'm here to find out if she can defend her Olympic title in Rio.

I've done it in the past so I know that I can go on and do it again.

I love the fact that there are hundreds of schoolchildren

gathered behind us for a school sports day

and you would've been one of those kids, wouldn't you?

Yeah, I remember sports days and going out on the field

and trying athletics for the first time.

And why then choose to test yourself over seven events

rather than just picking one?

Yeah, well, it wasn't my choice, to be honest.

I met Tony and he specialised in coaching decathlon and heptathlon

and he just said, "Try these events and see how you get on."

I didn't really know what I was kind of getting myself into

and I didn't know how it worked and before I knew it,

I was training for it and competing in the heptathlon.

To be here in Sheffield, which is the place you grew up,

it's where you went to school, it's where your life is,

do you feel here that you can just be Jess?

Yeah, definitely.

I am just completely at home here and like you said,

I went to school here, all my family are here,

I'm in this environment that I'm really comfortable in

and, you know, the people around the city are great

and everything's really familiar and this is how I work at my best

and this environment is incredible.

To have this elite facility here, I'm very lucky.

What is your regular training day? What do you do and for how long?

So training every day is completely different and we try

and cover all the different events.

We spend a little bit more time on some of my weaker events

and obviously, now Reggie's here, I've limited my training to,

you know, not being down at the track all day.

I come down in the morning

and get a good three or four hours of quality training

and then have the afternoon off and then I do sessions at home

so everything's really mixed up at the moment but it works really well.

Is it always about scoring a certain number of points,

or is it about beating other people?

Do you have to be quite ruthless in saying, right,

that's my opposition, this is what I need to do to beat them?

I think it depends on the year and the circumstances.

For me, last year wasn't necessarily about having the best point score.

It wasn't about PBing,

because I knew I wasn't able to do that at that stage.

But it was about winning medals,

it was about beating people, essentially.

But in previous years, it's definitely been about

improving each year and bettering my PBs, and bettering my scores.

And do you feel now that when you walk into an arena,

particularly a World Championships or an Olympics,

that the rest of them go...? CLARE GASPS

There's a bit of an aura of invincibility about you

and that can be worth something.

I don't necessarily feel that.

I still feel very much the same athlete that

I felt before I'd won any medals and any championships.

But I think last year was a big year.

Before I went to the World Championships, my husband,

Andy, was like, "You'll be surprised how people react differently

"when you're there competing."

And I was like, "No, I don't think so,

"I've just come back and I've not done a lot of training,

"I'm not particularly prepared, they think it'll be just the same."

Yeah, I think people do act differently

when certain competitors are there

but it's the dynamics of the heptathlon

and it's the mental side of it as well as the physical side.

Is it quite a tight club?

I mean, do you get on with everybody or is that impossible?

No, it is, it's a really nice environment.

It's a nice set of girls

and everyone wants to beat each other, everyone wants to be the best

and on top of the podium but everyone has that mutual respect

for how hard you have to train for a heptathlon

and, you know, the hours you have to put in

and just generally how hard it is

to complete a heptathlon and do it well.

You always seem incredibly patient and kind and nice.

There must be things that frustrate you and annoy you.

JESSICA CHUCKLES

I'm not a patient person at all, I'm very impatient

and I want everything yesterday.

I think that's an athlete quality as well.

But I know I do appear quite happy on the track

and everything's going quite well and positive,

but inside, I'm nervous and I have elements of frustration

and I want to be better than I am

and all those different things

that are going on in my mind, I just don't necessarily show it.

And I've heard you hate people being late.

Yes! Tony is always late.

-Is he? CHUCKLING:

-Yeah.

Why does he do that to you?

I know, it drives me and the training group mad.

But, yeah, I'm definitely the kind of person that's always on time

and I think that's just been embedded in me

from being a child growing up with my parents,

they're always on time, but Tony is always late.

And what makes you laugh?

I think I've got quite a good sense of humour

and the people around me, I like having banter

with the training group and family and people like that make me laugh.

Sport is, generally speaking, pretty unglamorous.

You know, one's got to get dirty and sweaty

and your hair's not always going to be perfect.

But does it matter to you and is it important then

to be able to look nice when the occasion demands it?

You want to feel comfortable and happy when you're competing.

It's not necessarily about being glamorous,

you're not going to be glamorous when you're competing.

You know, I'll try and make myself look reasonably nice

before the start of the heptathlon, before the hurdles,

but by the end, it's all gone wrong and you're sweaty

and your hair's everywhere but, you know, if you've done well,

then it doesn't really matter.

And still, it's a very important visual image

for women around the world, actually, that you can be

competitive and ambitious and muscular and still feminine.

Yeah, definitely. I think it's so important because, you know,

I remember being at school as like a 13-, 14-year-old girl

and, you know, girls don't want to do sport,

they don't want to be active because it's not seen as feminine.

You do get sweaty and you've got to have muscles

but it's nice that hopefully myself

and other female athletes can show that you can be muscular

but you can be really great at what you do

and you can be feminine, you can wear dresses

and do nice things, but you can perform and be aggressive

and a great competitor on the track.

So is it important to you, that sort of broader message?

It is, it is.

Because I think role models and women who are strong and confident

in what they do, but feminine, can share a different side of sport.

It's really important.

You were voted by Sports Illustrated

the fittest female sports star on the planet.

Which is quite an accolade, isn't it?

Yeah, those things make me feel really embarrassed, to be honest.

But, yeah, it's pretty special.

And could you imagine a time,

when maybe you're not a full-time athlete any more, where, actually,

that would be your role - motivating others to get as fit as they can be?

Yeah, definitely.

I think I'm at the stage of my career now where I'm not going to

be competing for that much longer, and I'm starting to think about

things that I'm passionate about and things I want to do in the future.

Yeah, definitely, for me, it's always about getting people active.

You don't have to be Olympic champion or anything like that.

Just set yourself challenges, getting families active,

and young kids and that kind of thing is something that's

really important to me.

In July 2014, just two years before Rio,

Jess gave birth to a baby boy called Reggie.

Her sights are now firmly set on defending her Olympic title,

but she has added pressure

as she juggles training and competing with being a mum.

What sort of a mother do you aspire to be?

Oh, that's hard.

I mean, I just want to be the best mum that I can be.

There's so many challengers of being a mum,

you're going to make mistakes along the way. I look back and think,

I should have done that differently, or I should have changed that.

I just want Reggie to look at me and just know that I've done

the best for him and just given him the best start in life.

Do you have to stop yourself being a bit competitive about

is he walking yet or...? Do you know what I mean?

Cos mums are with each other, aren't they? Even if they don't mean to be!

"Mine's running now, actually, 100m."

JESSICA CHUCKLES

I try not to be that kind of parent but I am competitive

and I do sometimes hear myself saying,

"Oh, Reggie's done this" or "Reggie can do that"

and I think every mum's like that,

you just want your son or daughter to be the best

and confident in what they do

but, yeah, I'm trying to rein it in and not be one of those mums.

But is he? Does he look a bit sporty?

-Oh, yeah, he's really sporty.

-Is he?

-He's very advanced.

Picking up things?

No, he is very active and he has been from ten months -

he was walking and running around and I competed at the weekend

throwing the javelin and he came to watch me

and when we got home, you know, he's got a little brush,

he likes brushing around the house, and he picked that up and

he started throwing it around the living room and I was like, "Look!

"He can throw the javelin!" So, yeah, he's brilliant.

And the difficult thing is you've got to fit it into an Olympic cycle

so you've got to get your timing right.

"I'll have the baby then, then I'll be back

"and I'll be all right for Rio" and actually the bonus is

you were all right for the World Championships as well.

Does that mean, you know, are you forward-planning as well?

Are you wanting a bigger family?

Yeah, I definitely want a bigger family

and I don't think I'm going to have another child

definitely not before the Olympics and definitely not before I retire.

I think it was a really big challenge that I set myself,

you know, having my son and then coming back and trying to get back

to the top again so I don't think I could do that with two children.

There's also the fitness challenge of getting fit again

after having been pregnant and giving birth.

For me, I noticed that when I came back into training,

my body fat was actually quite low and that's just simply

because you're on the go, constantly burning energy and fat,

so it's always been a case of making sure that I eat enough,

I keep the carbohydrates and all the food groups on board,

and make sure I've got that energy to train as hard as I need to

train in the heptathlon.

What's your favourite healthy meal?

I'm big fan of sweet potatoes.

I eat a lot of fish and chicken.

Quite a bit of red meat as well.

Just try and have a balanced diet

and cover as many food groups as possible.

Does that mean there's, like, no little, naughty treats?

-Yes, there is.

-There is? Chocolate?

Yeah, I've got a massive sweet tooth as well.

When I go shopping,

people like to have a little look in your trolley

and see what you're buying

and you have to hide some of the chocolates and treats at the bottom.

If you could add another sport to heptathlon,

if you could make it eight rather than seven, what would you put in?

Um... Oh, I don't know.

I'd definitely take the 800m out, I'd just lose that completely.

Cos it's painful?

Cos it's painful and horrible but if I could put any sport in,

I'd maybe put a bit of tennis in there.

Are you a good tennis player?

-No.

-THEY LAUGH

I haven't played for a long time but that'd be quite good fun, I think.

Your body shape can be suited to certain sports

and you look at rowers and, obviously, they're big, long, tall.

What is your body shape perfect for

and what elements of you suit the heptathlon well?

Um, I think...

I am quite small, I'm one of the smallest heptathletes

so you'd probably say that my jumps wouldn't be as good

but high jump is a really strong event for me.

I'm quite springy and that's something that I think is genetic,

something I've been born with,

but generally, I think my body type probably suits

some of the speedy events, so hurdles, the 200m.

Not great for the throwing events.

But, yeah, I think, over the years, so many athletes,

myself, Usain Bolt, have shown that you don't have to be

that particular shape to be great at an event.

Obviously, there is a lot of talk in athletics

about performance-enhancing substances

and you will be dope-tested a lot during your career.

How often do they come calling and what happens when they do?

Um, so, I mean, in the past five or six weeks,

I've probably had about three or four tests, so, you know,

they vary throughout the year, but constantly tested, which is great,

because you want to make sure that the sport's clean,

and you want to make sure it's being done in the same, systematic way

throughout the world.

So, typically, I put an hour of each day where I'm going to be

and it's normally a morning slot that I put between six and seven

cos I know I'm normally in bed or waking up with Reggie.

And they can basically come whenever they like and test.

They actually came on my wedding anniversary the other week,

which was a little bit frustrating, but it's part of it.

"Happy anniversary!" Beep!

THEY CHUCKLE

-"And now could you do this?"

-Yeah.

-So romantic(!)

Do you feel that there's a medal out there that you didn't win,

I mean, possibly at the World Championships?

Yeah, I mean we're still waiting for decisions to be made with that,

the World Championships in Daegu, but, yeah, I do feel that that's...

I find it hard to understand how it's fair

and, yeah, I hope to have that medal one day.

Everybody fell in love with you at London 2012.

To such an extent that, unfortunately, for -

he was your fiance at the time, but your husband now - Andy,

what happened at the Hyde Park event after Super Saturday?

Yeah, going out on stage and being announced to the crowd

and Andy was obviously behind me

and they were asking how I was going to celebrate

and I said, "With my fiance, Andy",

and everyone's like "Boo!"

And he just stood in the back, just like, "Oh."

But it was funny and it was all meant in good humour, I think.

And at Heathrow Airport, when the planes came in

-there was that big picture of you, wasn't there?

-Yeah.

-Everyone saw it!

-Yeah, I know.

When I think back to those moments, you know,

I still have to jog my memory to remind myself of all these

different things that happened because, at the time,

I was just so focused on training

and making sure everything was right to compete on those two days

and I kind of missed all these things

that were happening around me.

What? So you don't remember what Prince Harry said?

I mean, it's all a bit of a blur, to be honest,

and I do obviously remember being there and saying hi to them

and I remember him saying,

"Oh, there's not a lot of pressure on you"

and all these little elements

but I've not really thought about this for a long time

and when you're an athlete, you're so focused on training

and you've done one thing,

then you're on to achieving the next thing

and everything is just working forward so you don't have

that much time to sit down and actually remember all those moments.

So Super Saturday is still a blur, is it?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, crossing the line for me -

that's the image that stays in my mind

and whenever I think about the Olympics, it's that moment of...

I felt like I was almost holding my breath through those two days

and I was just so nervous and so anxious

that when I actually crossed the line, I knew I'd won,

I could just breathe out a sigh of relief

and I'd actually done it, but, yeah, it was just unbelievable.

Do you remember your results? 100m hurdles?

Oh, you're really testing me now.

Um...12.54.

12.54, which would've been good enough to win gold

-in the 100m hurdles, pure hurdles, in Beijing.

-Yeah, yeah.

Which you're probably aware of. High jump?

-I think it was 1.87m.

-1.86m.

-1.86m. Close.

-Shot put?

Oh, this is hard. Shot put was...

14.20-something...

14.21?

Four? Six?

Eight! 14.28m!

200m?

It was 22.83.

Yeah, which would've won you the British Championships in 2015,

-last year. You would've been British champion.

-That's quite cool.

Long jump?

-Long jump was 6.48m.

-Yes.

And that was a really key event for me

and I remember just being so relieved and excited

that I'd put a decent jump on the board.

-So then you went to the javelin.

-Yes.

-And?

And I think it was...46?

47?

-47.49m.

-I can't remember.

-No.

-And then 800 metres.

-Nick will be mad.

-Where actually the time's not so important.

-Yeah.

Well, it is, but it's where you finished.

It is important, but it was just...

I was so nervous and I just wanted to just start the race.

It was the last event and I knew I was pretty much there.

I just had to get round and make sure I didn't fall over,

I didn't lose a shoe, I didn't get injured halfway round.

And then just bring it home that last 100 metres.

So do you know your time?

I think it was 2.08?

.65, yes.

And your final score.

6955.

Correct. You have passed, Jessica Ennis-Hill,

you may move forward to the heptathlon in Rio.

How many points do you think it will take to win gold in Rio?

Um, I think it's going to be

an incredibly high standard, as any Olympics is.

But I think it's probably going to take in the region of 6,900,

maybe a little bit more.

Wow, wow.

Can you remember how you celebrated in London?

Um...as soon as I got my medal I just went and found my family

and had a glass of champagne and lots of big hugs.

And just big smiles and, yeah, just excitement.

It opened many doors, it created various opportunities.

You had some really cool invitations.

You had a chance to meet your absolute hero, Will Smith.

I think he was on the week before or something like that.

-Oh, so you just missed him.

-Oh, he is incredible.

And I would just absolutely love to meet him.

Did you have a photo of him by your bed?

Yes, that's really sad, isn't it?

Well, it's interesting. JESSICA LAUGHS

-Interesting for your husband.

-It was a framed picture as well.

So I cut out a picture of him in a magazine and put it in a frame.

I'm a massive Will Smith fan.

-But it's not there any more by your bed?

-No, no!

No. Andy wouldn't allow it.

Every night there's Will Smith. Night, Will.

In 2015 Jess had the mother of all comebacks.

Just 13 months after giving birth, and three years after her last

major event, she struck gold at the World Championships in Beijing.

How much of a surprise was this?

Going into those World Championships in Beijing last year what

would have been a good result for you?

I mean, once myself and my coach had decided that I was OK to go

and give it my best shot we really wanted to come away with a medal

and that was our target - just to get on the podium.

But last year was a tough year, because I was constantly

comparing myself to 2012, the training times I used to do.

But when I came back, the reality was very different.

So I had to change my expectations completely.

Tony would constantly say to me, last year, "You're not the same

"athlete as before, these are posed-pregnancy PBs."

And it's got to be incredibly special when you go out there,

not expecting to win a gold medal, and you do win a gold medal.

Last year was definitely one of the highlights in my career.

After having Reggie, I wanted to come back,

I wanted to be strong and I wanted to get back to where I was.

But I knew it was going to take time, and I thought,

I'm not going to be able to do it in this short space of time.

And then I had Achilles problems,

and all the other things that come with being a first-time mum.

You're not sleeping properly, and all the changes.

And I just thought, this isn't going to happen this year,

but I'm going to keep trying and pushing on.

And then to get to Beijing and come away with a gold medal was just...

I just really didn't expect it.

The lap of honour was really more of a hobble, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah, throughout that competition,

that was the first Championships that I'd needed a lot of physio.

And normally I'm, you know, Ali Rose my physio will come over to me

and she'd be like, "Do you need any treatment?"

And I'm normally like, "No, I'm fine."

But literally in Beijing it was like, "I need Ali,

"I need some more treatment on my Achilles."

I need constant putting back together.

And then in the 800 it was literally the last bend

that I was coming round and I just felt my calf go.

And I knew that I was on the last stretch

and I just had to get to the line and I'd won.

After that it was quite painful cos I'd torn my calf

and I had to hobble around

and couldn't really walk much for the next couple of weeks.

But it was worth it.

And it was worth it, not just for proving that you were back,

but proving to everybody else you're back, I think,

is important as well.

So going into Rio, you are not just the reigning Olympic champion,

you are the reigning world champion.

Will you walk a little taller because of that?

I definitely take confidence from that.

I think, when you enter any competition, you're starting

from zero again, and you're all on that same starting line.

But I will take confidence knowing that I was able to

put that score together to finish at the top of the podium,

off very little training and preparation.

So I know that if I can keep my body held together,

train that little bit more, that, hopefully,

I can take confidence and do a bit better this year.

Have you been to Rio before?

Once, yeah, but only for two days, so I didn't get to see that much.

But it was incredible.

And I'm sort of thinking that sightseeing isn't very high

on your list of priorities when you get there this time.

No, it's going to be very much, I'm there to perform and do a job.

And I'm going to be extremely focused on that

and then it'll be about getting back to my family, wherever they may be.

And will your family come out with you?

Yeah, we're kind of planning everything at the moment

so we're working out logistics and obviously, with Reggie,

making sure he's comfortable and happy wherever he is.

But, yes, we're working logistics

and plans of everything at the moment.

You talked earlier about the importance of being a role model

to younger girls.

But also you have a chance to do something in Rio

that only two athletes have ever done before,

which is retain an Olympic title having had a child.

-You could be the third to do it.

-Yeah.

Does that matter?

I'm so proud of what I've achieved already

and content and happy with what I've done.

But there is that massive part of me

that's like, this would be incredible

if I could just hold everything together and push on.

But again it's, you know, to win back-to-back Olympics

is such a huge challenge anyway.

But to have a child in between makes it that little bit harder.

When you check in to the Olympic Village,

what's that environment like and do you still share rooms or not?

Yes, so in London it was kind of like an apartment set-up.

So you had a couple of people sharing a room,

I think there was six or seven of us.

So it's really nice to be in that environment where everyone's

a bit nervous, everyone's excited, that real kind of team feeling.

And you presumably are very much team leader now.

-You'll be one of the senior athletes.

-Oldest.

One of the senior, more experienced athletes on the team,

so therefore, for the first-timers, you're the one dispensing advice.

Oh, I didn't think about that.

Yes, you've got a lot of responsibility.

Yes, I still feel like I'm a young one on the team

and I'm just kind of starting at the beginning.

And especially having stepped away from athletics for a bit

I very much felt like when I came back I was out of the loop a bit.

And I'm back to learning everything.

But, you know, if there's young athletes on the team

I would always offer a bit of advice or help if I can in any way.

Presumably people did that for you?

Yeah, yeah. I think having bits of advice on different things,

or just having someone to say, "Oh, best to eat at this time."

Or, "Pick up your accreditation there."

You know, just little bits of help along the way.

Bring earplugs cos the second week there's lots of people

who've finished competing and they make a noise.

Exactly, all those little things you need to know

and if you've not been in that village set-up before,

then they're really important bits of information.

So, in Rio, do you get the chance to go and watch anything else?

Yeah, I hope so. I'd love to watch some of the other sports.

The British boxers are based here,

so we're in the gym training with them all the time.

So I'd love to see some of them compete,

because they've been doing amazing at the moment.

Actually, you and Nicola Adams, I think, are similar,

in the sense of the smiling assassin, if you like!

You know, "How could you go and do that, you seem so sweet?"

-So you'll go and hopefully support her?

-Yeah.

When it comes to Rio, who do you foresee being your rivals,

right at the top of that list?

I think that obviously Brianne Theisen-Eaton,

she's been performing and improving year on year.

And although she didn't perform the way she wanted

at the Worlds last year, she had a really good score in Gotzis

earlier in the year and she's improved so much.

So she's definitely a main rival.

And Katerina because she's an incredible athlete

and she's still not quite shown us everything yet.

She had the disappointment in Beijing as well, so I think that

she's going to put things right and be a fierce competitor this year.

And that's a difficult situation for you

cos obviously you're team-mates.

And you want each other to do well, you're part of Team GB.

In a way, more than at a World Championships,

you're trying to achieve something together.

But you are each other's competition.

Yeah. It's hard and it's nice in a way because we will both

hopefully be there out in the field and we can support each other.

But of course we want to beat each other,

we want to be the best British heptathlete.

So we'll be hoping that both of us do well.

And there's quite a lot of time between events

where presumably the only people you see are the other heptathletes.

Yes, so we have a combined events room, which is under the stadium.

There's just the medical team and the athletes and coaches.

And there is a lot of downtime between the morning session

and the afternoon session, and you kind of just sit there

and you have to gather your thoughts.

-That'd be awful, I think that's like the worst bit of all.

-Yes.

And you don't want to look at them,

you don't really want to talk to them and you can't read a book.

Yes, it is a strange situation and everyone does something differently.

So some heptathletes go back to the hotel, others like to stay there.

I'm quite happy to just stay in a corner

and try and get a bit of sleep and then just listen to music,

and just kind of keep myself to myself.

But you do have to talk to each other as well

so it's quite a strange environment.

Finally, Jess Ennis-Hill, on a scale of one to ten,

what are your chances of bringing home a gold medal from Rio?

Ooh. I... At this moment in time, I really don't know.

I'm happy because I'm back into full training,

but with sport, things change in an instant.

So I really don't know.

But you do 100% believe in your own ability, don't you?

Yes, definitely.

I've got such a great set-up, I've got a great coach

and great people around me and I know they believe in me.

And I've done it in the past

so I know that I can go on and do it again.

But I need a little bit of luck on my side as well.

We will all be supporting you and thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Listening to Jess there,

you realise how much has changed in her life since London 2012.

But also how much some things have stayed the same.

The hours of training, the hard graft,

the being here in Sheffield where she feels comfortable,

where she's surrounded by people who understand her, people she loves.

The importance of her family

and how much it matters to her to try to make them proud.

In essence, it's very simple,

but what she's trying to achieve is very, very difficult.

With a following wind and a bit of good luck

she hopefully will make her Olympic swansong a glorious one.