Great Britain won six gold medals and a silver on Saturday, capped by triumphs for poster girl Jessica Ennis and runner Mo Farah to make it their most successful day at a Games for 104 years.
The host nation could barely believe its luck as the rowers started the gold rush in the men’s four and the women’s lightweight double sculls. Then the women’s team pursuiters added to the British dominance of the Velodrome with another track cycling gold, setting the scene for a remarkable night of athletics in front of 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium.
The photogenic Ennis has been under more pressure than anyone going into the Games, carrying the hopes of a nation and appearing on a thousand magazine covers.
The heptathlete did not disappoint, building up such a lead in the heptathlon that she did not even need to win her race in the last of her seven events, the 800m. But as the stadium rose to its feet, Ennis unleashed a sprint finish to cross the line first and threw her arms in the air as her face broke into a look caught between pain and joy.
“I just had to give it everything at the end,” Ennis, 26, said. “I just thought I’m only going to have one moment to do this in front of a home crowd like this in London.”
The congratulations rolled in immediately, with Prime Minister David Cameron tweeting: “Awe inspiring win for Jessica Ennis. Proud to be cheering her on with the home crowd.” Chris Hoy, who won his fifth cycling gold on Tuesday, joined the chorus, tweeting: “That’s how to do it!! Finish the job in style! Just superb J-Ennis !!!!”
Denise Lewis, who herself won heptathlon gold for Britain in 2000, said Ennis was “by far one of the most popular athletes we’ve seen in a very long time” — she dominated Sunday’s front pages. Almost unnoticed, Britain then grabbed a gold that few had predicted as Greg Rutherford won the long jump with a leap of 8.31m.
