Jessica Ennis-Hill proved her class and answered her critics with a British-record heptathlon performance in Austria on this day in 2012.
Just a couple of months before the London Olympics, one of the poster girls for the Games arrived amid a stir after her coach Toni Minichello revealed a senior figure at UK Athletics had accused her of being overweight.
Ennis-Hill, then known by her maiden name of Ennis, had also lost her World Championship to Tatyana Chernova in 2011, though the latter’s doping conviction would later see that result overturned.
It was, then, a major statement of intent for Ennis-Hill to win the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis with score of 6,906 points – making her just the eighth woman in history to clear the 6,900 mark.
In doing so she beat Denise Lewis’ British record, which had stood at 6,831 for the previous 12 years.
Ennis-Hill was in electric form as she bossed a strong field, setting personal bests in the 200 metres (22.88 seconds) and javelin (47.11 metres), with a joint best in the long jump (6.51 metres).
“I know I am in great shape and that I can build on it now,” she reflected.
“I’m over the moon. The record is something that’s been at the back of my mind and I wanted to achieve but I didn’t want to put too much pressure on it. Now I have the record I am very, very pleased.
“I wanted to do it for me, to prove to myself that I can do it, that I am capable of scoring a big score and that I am in good shape.”
Ennis-Hill went even better in a triumphant display at her home Olympics, taking gold on ‘Super Saturday’ and raising her own record to 6,955.
That stood until 2019, when her heir Katerina Johnson-Thompson scored 6,981 in the World Championships in Doha.
