Jessica Ennis National sports personality By Ben Aldridge

Contents IntroductionChildhood First Time Facts & Figures At the Olympics

introduction British track and field star Jessica Ennis was born on January 28, 1986 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Jessica Ennis took to track and field at a young age, developing a near-perfect hurdle technique at just 10 years old, and winning the high jump competition at the National Schools Championships at 14. Following a stress fracture in 2008 and a subsequent 12-month break from competition, Jessica Ennis made a comeback in 2009, winning the heptathlon at the world championships and the world indoor pentathlon title the following year

Childhood  She grew up with just one sister and a mum and dad. It was a nice family environment she explained – lots of noise, lots going on, and lots of pets. There was always a lot of cooking. When she was a child she always wanted to be a chef as her dad is Jamaican and cooked a lot of Jamaican food.

First time  The first time Jessica set eyes on the running track at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield she was 13 and had been sent there with her sister, Carmel, for a summer athletics camp because her parents were fed up with their boisterous arguments.  Jessica Ennis said it was the place where her Olympic heptathlon triumph in London this summer was forged. While it may have been the first athletics related reason Jessica Ennis had to thank her parents, Alison and Vinnie, it is far from the last.

Facts and Figures  She was born on the 28th of January 1986  She is 5 foot 5 inches tall  She became interested in athletics after winning a pair of trainers at an Aviva event in Sheffield at the age of 10  At the age of 11 she joined her local athletics club  She took part in many youth competitions and eventually joined the British Youth Squad at 17  She was disappointed when an injury caused her to pull out of the 2008 Olympic Squad as she was predicted to win a medal.

At the Olympics  She won a gold medal in the Olympics at the heptathlon.  Just in case she didn’t win a gold medal in the heptathlon she also put her name down for the 200m hurdles as a single event.  Behind the scenes of the Olympics 2012 London all of the guests stayed at the Olympic village and shared a food hall of most of the nationalities different food cultures.

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