The one to beat: Jessica Ennis has seen her opponents move closer
Jessica Ennis admits that the battle for Olympic gold in London next year will be won as much in her head as on the track.
That is why the 24-year-old world and European heptathlon champion is turning to sports psychology to gain an edge over rivals who believe they are closing in on her.
Ennis, who studied psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, is delighted that she was able to follow up her world outdoor title in 2009 with a world indoor and European crown last year.
But she is also increasingly wary of the challenges ahead, which include the European Indoors in March, a defence of her world outdoor title in the summer and then next year’s Olympic Games in London.
She knows that she is entering uncharted waters at a time when her opponents, judging by how close Ukraine’s Natalyia Dobrynska came to beating her in Barcelona last August, are raising the stakes, and she wants to leave nothing to chance.
‘I’m looking for everything to give me an edge,’ she says. ‘I’ve done bits of psychology before, but not much. This is all going to change.
‘Don’t forget, London will be my first Olympics. The fact that it’s in my own country is exciting, but also adds to the pressure.
‘If I can retain my world title this year, then there will be a great deal of expectation on me, from the public, the sport, the media and myself, and I need to be able to handle it. I remember watching Cathy Freeman win gold in the 400metres in Sydney 2000 and being impressed in how she dealt with a whole nation watching on.
Grabbing the initiative: Ennis looking for an edge
Grabbing the initiative: Ennis looking for an edge
‘So far, everything’s gone pretty smoothly. But what if it doesn’t? I need to be able to deal with any situation at any time, and that includes during competition. That’s why I’ll be working hard with the sports psychologists this year.’
It was the sight of Dobrynska overtaking her with just 150m remaining of the 800m, the seventh and final discipline in the European Championships heptathlon, that made Ennis realise that if she wants to remain at the top of the world then she has her work cut out.
She entered the 800m just 18 points ahead of the 2008 Olympic champion, who needed to beat the Sheffield girl by a second and a half to take the European title.
Ennis’s emphatic response down the home straight did for the challenger, but it also sent alarm bells ringing in the British star’s head.
‘It reminded me that however difficult it’s been getting to the top, it’s clearly going to be a lot harder staying there,’ she admits, as she aims first for the European indoor pentathlon crown in Paris in March.
World class: Ennis out to retain her title
World class: Ennis out to retain her title
‘I didn’t realise just how close Dobrynska was. Then I saw this big, blonde figure shoot past and it scared the hell out of me. It put a lot of pressure on me for those last 150 metres or so. I’m pleased I won, of course, but it also shows how the opposition is raising its game.
‘I’ve had a taste of what’s to come. I know she’ll be encouraged, not disheartened, because she got so close. She, and the likes of America’s Hyleas Fountain and Germany’s Jennifer Oeser, will make big improvements. So, too, must I.’
Her first act was to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games.
‘I watched it all in Delhi from home and a part of me wished I’d been there because I could have won another title, but a bigger part of me is pleased with my decision.
‘I’ve got a very long two years ahead of me. It’s a massive ask just to win back-to-back world titles, and that’s even before my first Olympics, so it’s important that I wintered well for the tasks ahead of me.’
But that’s not all. Ennis understands that to continue beating the best of the rest she will not only need to overcome Denise Lewis’s long-standing British heptathlon record (her personal best of 6,823pts was just eight short of Lewis’s mark of 6,831) this year, but must also make improvements in many areas of her performance.
‘I’m not going to improve by 300 or 400 points. It’s the fine-tuning in areas that may get me a few more points, but that’s the hardest thing to do. One thing’s for sure. I could do without the consistent dramas in the shot putt.’
By this she means her penchant for producing two decidedly average throws in the shot before pulling off a big one in her last attempt, as she did at both the Berlin worlds and Barcelona Europeans.
‘I can’t keep doing that. One day I’m not going to get away with it. The pressure I’m placing on myself as a result is horrendous. That’s why I’m working especially hard on the shot.’
It seems the pin-up girl of British athletics is leaving nothing to chance in her quest for athletic immortality.
‘It’s what gets me running up those Yorkshire hills in winter training, knowing that there’s still quite a lot more to come from me,’ she concludes, before heading off to work on achieving just that.