Jessica Ennis

Heptathlete Jessica Ennis is Great Britain’s leading female athlete and one of the faces of London 2012. Ennis lost her 2009 world title to Tatyana Chernova in 2011, finishing second in Daegu. Her senior career started in 2004, and Ennis won her first major championship medal with a bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. A potential medallist heading towards the 2008 Olympics, a stress fracture and career-threatening injury ruled Ennis out of the Games and kept her out of the sport for 12 months. In her comeback from injury at the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge Ennis won with a career best, and went on to win Gold at the World Championships in Berlin later that year. World Indoor and European Championship gold medals followed in 2010 as Ennis rose to the top of the Heptathlon world rankings, although a poor showing in the javelin saw her slip to a silver medal finish at the World Championships in 2011. Second to Denise Lewis on the all-time list for British heptathletes, Ennis is the joint British record holder for women’s high jump and in second place on the all-time list for the 100 metre hurdles. Chernova and current Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska are likely to be Ennis’ biggest rivals at London 2012. Ennis had to settle for a silver medal with Dobrynska taking the gold at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul in March 2012.