u.But the uncertainty continues for Watson, de | Forum

Position des Themas: Forum-Startseite » User Foren » Allgemeine Fragen
Mitglied
jcy123 Apr 17 '19
There are many titles that could have been bestowed on Jessica Ennis-Hill during her magnificent athletics career. Vans Old Skool Discount . The Face of 2012? Of course. The nicest athlete in Britain? Almost certainly. The most beloved? Very possibly. The toughest? Well, if you had ever watched her train at her Sheffield base, you wouldnt have had to ask twice.Yet as British sport bade farewell on Thursday to its diminutive heroine with the big heart and the even bigger smile, it was also legitimate to wonder whether our Jess was, pound for pound, the finest, most complete all-round athlete this country has seen in the new millennium.We are talking of a woman who was not just the worlds best multi-eventer but, within Britain itself, brilliant enough to be at various points the nations top high jumper, its finest long jumper, its most outstanding, world-class hurdler and one of its fastest sprinters.Standing at 5-foot-5, she could leap 30cm above her own height -- a feat only ever achieved by a handful of jumpers -- and, though only a fraction above nine stone, she turned herself into one of the countrys top 10 shot putters. At her peak, she was forced through stress fractures to effectively relearn the long jump from scratch, having to take off from her left foot instead of her right, and yet still won the Olympic title within three years.Hers was an odyssey of courage, skill and unreal determination. No one trains harder than multi-eventers and no multi-eventer prepared harder than her.I once had the privilege to spend a day watching her train at the English Institute of Sport in her home town. It was truly wince-inducing.Intense sprints, skipping, sandpit drills, 12 long jumps, 12 puts, throwing technique sessions, circuit training, conditioning. Not as bad as the hill runs and weight sessions of the previous day but a brutal morning. She then sat at lunch just dreading the afternoons killer 800m training and, after those killer 200 metres reps, I actually did hear the unthinkable from her -- dear old Jess in agony, swearing her head off.Watching this workload, I remember later thinking that, after she had taken a break following her Olympic triumph to become a mum, it would be miraculous for her to reprise the same intense daily physical and mental slog that shed need to beat the world again. Thirteen months after giving birth to son Reggie, though, she was world heptathlon champion again. Yes, the mother of all comebacks.When such a natural talent was enhanced by such extraordinary determination, only one thing more was required to create the ideal athlete; a rare spirit when in the heat of competition.Toni Minichiello, the ebullient coach who could always seem to cajole the best out of this self-confessed worrier, once scolded me for suggesting she was Daley-esque, that she had something of the peerless Daley Thompsons ability to produce her best under the most severe moments of pressure. No, Jessica-esque -- Daleyd learn a thing or two, he laughed.Certainly, Thompson could have taken a lesson or two in charm and how to win friends and influence people from Ennis-Hill. Its not easy having to live up to some fanciful role model notion but she never seemed to have to try; shes just a natural and it was for good reason that she was earlier this year voted ahead of Andy Murray as the sports personality that Britain was most proud of.In an era when athletics had become enveloped by doubt and cynicism, people still always felt that here as someone they could still believe in. Mick Thompson, the coach who first spotted the talent of an energetic 10-year-old schoolgirl when overseeing a summer camp in Sheffield, once told me shes never changed in all the time hes known her. Whats not to like about Jess? Still as good as gold, always friendly and open, he said.Too true. She kept that demeanour even when the pressure was at its absolute height. Like Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000 and Michael Johnson in Atlanta 1996, she shouldered with wonderful aplomb the ultimate double -- being both the face and the hero of a home Olympic Games.What could have been more challenging than having to burst out of that London 2012 poster and into legend on that Super Saturday with anything less than gold being seen as some sort of failure? As an example of amazing grace under pressure, British sport has seen little like it.So, yes, she was as good as gold yet the funny thing was how she always sounded as if she never quite understood how brilliant she was.With her Olympic heptathlon gold and silver, her two world titles (actually, it should really have been three because she wasnt up-graded from silver in 2011 even after Russian winner Tatyana Chernova was subsequently discredited as a doping cheat), her world indoor pentathlon title and her European crown, there have been times when Ennis-Hill would have had a right to call herself the worlds best athlete. Yet, she just laughed that she couldnt bring herself to think like that because it all sounded a bit too surreal.Lets be clear, though. The woman who had a right to once feel a bit irritated by being faintly patronised as tadpole by one British rival ended up showing everyone that she was a veritable giant in the nations sporting firmament.More than that, Ennis-Hill was living proof that nice guys do finish first. She could have plumped for one final hurrah at next years world championships, back at the scene of her 2012 triumph, but she knew instinctively it was time to go.Like practically everything she did, our Jess, who radiated sunshine while she raided all those golds, got it right even at the very end of her quite glittering career. Vans Old Skool Sale Cheap . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Buy Cheap Old Skool . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. http://www.cheapoldskool.us/ . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Essendon star Jobe Watson will confirm his AFL return on Friday morning.After weeks of speculation about Watsons future, he will most likely front the media from 9am at St Bernards College.The banned Essendon players have used St Bernards as a training base during their doping suspensions.Watson is the last of the 12 banned players still on Essendons list to confirm his intentions.It means 10 of them will remain at Essendon, with Michael Hibberd likely to be traded to Melbourne and Tayte Pears deciding to pursue a career in firefighting.Watson returned to Melbourne last week from overseas.His ban only ended this week, a few days after his teammates, because he played in last years international rules series.On Wednesday, Essendon coach John WWorsfold said Watson had a fortnight to make the call on his playing future. Cheap Old Skool Wholesale. Watson dropped a big hint on Thursday night with a humorous Twitter post.Along with a photo of Watsons football boots and pet dog, he said he (sic) mate, Im going to need to borrow these back off you.But the uncertainty continues for Watson, despite his decision to keep playing.The 34 current and past Essendon players have made a last-ditch appeal in the Swiss legal system to have their doping bans overturned.If that fails, as expected, the AFL Commission will then decide on whether it strips Watson of his 2012 Brownlow Medal. ' ' '