Olympic gold-winning heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, 35, started competing at the age of nine and was the face of London 2012. She is covering Tokyo 2020 for BBC Sport. She lives in her native Sheffield with her husband, Andy, and their children, Reggie, seven, and Liv, three.
Resilience was one of the keys to my success in athletics. Being able to focus and turn setbacks around can be very difficult – I could have gone round in circles thinking what I should have done differently. I turned them into learning experiences and moved on.
I’m like Monica in Friends – I’m too organised and structured. Focusing on goals and achievements in sports is great, but when you take that into your personal life, it can be hard just to enjoy the moment. I’m always thinking ahead and planning rather than going with the flow.
Life became blurred during Covid. Home schooling and keeping the kids entertained while trying not to be overwhelmed was very difficult. But it forced my husband and me to slow down and make the best of family time.
People have become more conscious of the impact of their actions on others. There are so many amazing movements, like Black Lives Matter, which are bringing injustices and inequality to the forefront of our minds. It’s important for people to have a deeper understanding of the issues behind the headlines so that progress can be made. Asking uncomfortable questions is vital. Lewis Hamilton has been great at galvanising people and using his sport as a platform to drive change.
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Parenting isn’t about smothering kids or giving them endless toys and gadgets. It’s about getting them to be open to new things and teaching them good habits, like getting out and eating right.
I didn’t have pushy parents. They always supported me and drove me all over the country for meets, but they never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to.
As an athlete you have to be selfish to focus on your performance, but that can make relationships challenging. I’ve just celebrated my eighth wedding anniversary, though, so we must be doing something right.
Don’t get too caught up in what everyone else is doing. Focus on you and controlling what you’re capable of. In sport, it’s very easy to worry about what your rivals are doing, but you can’t control any of that. In the real world, there’s a lot of noise too, including from social media. Try to tune that out and focus on what’s important to you.
My career was almost over before it started. I had to miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of three stress fractures in my right foot. It was a devastating blow, but it gave me motivation to come back even stronger.
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The transition from a sports career to normal life can be very hard. It depends a lot on your reasons for retiring, whether it’s injury, illness, age or personal reasons. For me, it wasn’t a hard decision. After I had my son in 2014, I said I was going to do two more years and make it to Rio. I’d achieved everything I’d wanted to and I was ready to move on and start the next phase of my life.
Jessica Ennis-Hill is the face of Berry Gardens’ berries range
