This week for Windrush Wednesday I’m talking about Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, DBE.
What can you say about Dame Jessica that hasn’t been said already?
Now retired she is best known for winning an Olympic gold medal and being a part of the Super Saturday evening of the London 2012 Olympics. At the time of winning her Olympic gold she was also world and European champion at that point as well.
She was introduced to sport by her mum who enjoyed high jump and her Jamaican dad who favoured sprinting. When she appeared on Desert Island Discs she revealed that her grandfather would offer her cash incentives as a reward for her initial successes in her early track competitions.
I was going to list her medals and awards but quite frankly I’d run out of characters to post.
One thing I learned that I didn’t know, but that makes me love her a little more is that she used to have a stand named after her at Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United. In November 2014 she stated that she wanted her name removed from the stand if the club ever re-signed a former player who was a convicted rapist. After stating this she received horrific threats on social media that South Yorkshire police took very seriously. In 2015 the club renamed the stand after a sponsor!
I love everything that she’s achieved but speaking up like that and removing her name from a stand at the football ground of her club for that reason is just amazing!
As you know I have the Hope Gala Ball coming up soon, we are raising funds to enable GEM – Global Empowerment Movement to continue their work in supporting women survivors of abuse. If you’d like to join us at the ball we still have a few tickets available, just follow this link and get your tickets here.