Laureus talks to Olympic star Jessica Ennis
December 6
British Olympic star Jessica Ennis was one of the deserving winners at today’s SJA British Sports Awards.
And as charity partners of the event, Laureus were lucky enough to grab a few minutes with her to talk about the importance of sport for young people, the effect of her success and even her Christmas plans.
On her young sport experience…
Obviously sport was a huge part of my childhood having started athletics when I was 10 and I would encourage everyone to get involved with sport because it really does teach you so much. You can get so much from it in so many different ways.
On the possible effect her success has…
The participation levels of sport are really going up, particularly in athletics, which is so positive. But I’m just doing what I love and if that can inspire other kids to get involved then that’s a really positive place to be.
What it means to be a role model and celebrity…
It’s not about being a celebrity for me, it’s being known for what you do, about your achievements and personal bests that I want people to know about. And it’s being able to use my event to reach out to different people in different ways that’s what’s great.
What she would tell young 10 year olds starting out in sport…
[I would say] try as many events and sports as you can. But don’t ever make it a chore. You have plenty of time to increase your training and do the really hard work when you are older. You’ve got to enjoy it from the start!
And what the future holds for the Olympic champion…
I’d like to hopefully give the hurdles a go in the future to prolong my career. But first I’m going to have Christmas Day off, the whole Christmas Day… which is pretty exciting.
