Emotional Ennis-Hill receives heptathlon gold medal in front of London crowd
The gold, six years late, is the 31-year-old’s third world heptathlon title.
Jessica Ennis-Hill fought back tears as she returned to the scene of her London 2012 triumph to receive her heptathlon gold medal from the 2011 World Championships.
The 31-year-old was cheered to the rafters after being presented with the medal, denied her at the time by Russian drug cheat Tatyana Chernova, by Lord Coe.
A beaming Ennis-Hill, who is pregnant with her second child, waved and blew kisses to the crowd before almost welling up as the national anthem played.
“It is truly incredible. I can’t believe I was nearly crying,” she said.
“To come back here and collect this medal is so special.
“To have my family here, my son (Reggie), and my next one here on the podium, it’s special.”
Coach Toni Minichiello was watching on too.
The Briton was upgraded from silver when Chernova was found guilty of blood doping, and the result was finally rubber-stamped last month when the Russian’s appeal against her ban was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ennis-Hill, who retired after winning silver at last year’s Olympics in Rio, shared an emotional hug on the podium with Germany’s Jennifer Oeser, the new silver medallist from Daegu.
The reception afforded to Ennis-Hill, working as a pundit for the BBC at these championships, was in stark contrast to that given to Justin Gatlin, who took to the top of the podium 15 minutes later to collect his 100m gold medal.
The American, though, was spared the level of booing he received after beating Usain Bolt to the gold on Saturday night.
