Jessica Ennis: Unbelievable - From My Childhood Dreams to Winning Olympic Gold by Jessica Ennis

the build-up to London we got an email, warning us to eat only British beef. I am glad the system is so stringent because there are certainly lots of dodgy cases, but it does not make it easy and I just wish that the same measures were implemented in every country. That is why I get annoyed when people start pointing fingers at our sport. Doping is talked about more in athletics, but I imagine it is in all sports. The bad stories never put me off, though. It’s a sport I love.
    There was some negative reaction when Christine Ohuruogu came back from a one year ban for missing three tests to win the 400 metres title in Osaka. I saw her case as being totally different to anyone who had failed a test. She had missed three tests, but the ‘whereabouts’ system is a lot clearer now than when it was first introduced. These days we can even text changes to let the testers know we have altered our plans. A lot of people don’t appreciate that athletes have the same chaotic lives as everyone else and can forget things, as Christine did. The process is so strict in Britain that I really can’t imagine how anyone could attempt to cheat, even if they were that way inclined.

5
CHINA GIRL
    I n the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow-clad mountains and a glittering lake, lies the little Austrian town of Götzis. The population fluctuates around the 10,000 mark but it increases each summer when the Hypo-Meeting takes place there. This is one of the biggest events in the calendar for the multi-eventers, outside of the major championships. The standard of the competition is out of kilter with the village-fete atmosphere, cut-throat competition being played out in front of people sunning themselves on grassy banks and tucking into bratwurst.
    On Friday 30 May 2008 the sun came out and I met the British press on the infield. We sat down and chatted. I knew that I was being talked up in the media as a good hope for a gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing later that summer. Did I think my rivals now regarded me as a serious contender? ‘I fear other people rather than thinking they’re walking round worrying about me,’ I replied. ‘I find it hard to imagine the Olympics. I don’t want to think about getting a medal. Deep down I know it’s what I’m going for, but I don’t want to get wrapped up in it.’
    There were other questions about Kelly and Klüft and Blonska. With Carolina deciding to turn her back on the heptathlon and just do the long jump at the Olympics, the pecking order had changed. Carolina was unbeatable, a quite incredible athlete who managed to tether that status to reality without ever losing her generosity. She was widely held in high regard, both as a rival and a person. It was different with Blonska. She had come back from that two-year drug ban in 2007 and won a silver medal at the World Championships. In athletics, there are always nods, winks and innuendos. Suspicions run rife. Rapid improvements or mysterious absences can lead to Chinese whispers of doubt.
    That Blonska had come back and scored so highly after her drug ban had caused concern and scepticism among some of the girls. Kelly was always more outspoken than me and again she went public with her remarks, saying that nobody spoke to Blonska. ‘We don’t support drug cheats,’ she added.
    I was philosophical and pragmatic about Blonska. She was competing in Götzis and she would be there at the Olympics, probably as the favourite now there was no Carolina. I had to beat her fair and square, whether she was playing by the same rules or not. It is one of the downsides to professional sport, the fact that some people will do anything to win regardless of their conscience.
    I had been 363 points adrift of Blonska in Osaka. It was a huge gulf but I had been working hard with Mick Hill and had improved my javelin by five metres. I had once queued up to get Mick’s autograph in Sheffield so it felt odd to have him helping me, and I think he probably