In short
Jessica Ennis-Hill describes the final 800 metres of the London 2012 heptathlon, focusing on how she pushed hard for a great score and the emotional relief of crossing the finish line.
Guest background
Olympic champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, speaking to Lauren Laverne in 2021.
Key claims
she avoided “half-hearted” jogging, used the last 150 metres to change gear, injected speed to pass rivals, and felt pure relief in the final meters. She says the arms-out celebration wasn’t planned; it happened as the crowd “lifted” and carried her.
Notable examples
the iconic finish-line image with serene arms out; rivals’ faces contorted; the moment she crossed and “breath[ed] a sigh of relief.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOJessica Ennis-Hill Reflects on Olympic Glory
0:30 to 2:19
Discover Jessica's memories of winning gold at the London 2012 Olympics.
“There was no point in just jogging round and doing it half-heartedly.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:13Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne. Welcome to Desert Island Discs Postcards, where we share funny, moving and memorable moments directly from our desert island with you every weekday. Our castaway today is the Olympic champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill. When I spoke to her in 2021, she told me how she approached her final event at the London 2012 Olympics, the 800 metres. There was no point in just jogging round and doing it half-heartedly. I wanted to push myself as hard as I could and have a great score and have that finish that I really wanted at the end of two really tough days and the past few years of getting to that point as well.
0:56and there is this iconic image of you with your arms stretched out wide crossing the finish line after those two exhausting days of competition and you can see in the background you know your rivals the faces are contorted with the effort and the pain of all of it but you just look completely serene it's almost like you're flying it's like a titanic moment arms out you know just this serene look on your face what do you remember about that moment I just remember the last kind of 150 meters before the line I remember just having that feeling of the line is nearly there I can see it I've nearly done it I've very nearly done it I remember just being able to kind of change up a gear so I just remember kind of injecting a bit of speed and being able to come past some of the girls and start pushing to the front and in that moment of just the last you know meter or so across the line it was just that pure like relief I had no plan to you know fling my arms up and do any kind of celebration I had no idea how I'd react but in that moment it just happened I felt the crowd just kind of lifted me and you know carried me along the line and and that opening of my arms was that pure relief of almost breathing a sigh of relief that I'd crossed the line and I'd done it.
2:19Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill speaking to me in 2021. You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds. Just search for Jessica Ennis-Hill Desert Island Discs.
From the publisher
The Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2021.
She recalls pushing herself in her final event at the London 2012 Olympics, the 800-metre race, and how throwing her hands up in the air as she crossed the finish line had not been part of the plan.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
