Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill says she feels “honoured and proud” after her heptathlon triumph at the London 2012 Olympics won the best British women’s sport moment in a BBC Sport vote.
We asked advocates of 18 sports to nominate one moment each from their sport and Ennis-Hill’s performance at the Olympic Stadium came out on top with more than a quarter of the votes.
In second place was Team GB winning Olympic hockey gold at Rio 2016 in that nail-biting penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands.
England’s last-gasp victory over Australia to win netball gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games finished third.
Ennis-Hill told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I feel incredibly honoured and very proud to have come out on top.
“We’re very lucky to have such amazing female role models within our country and within our sport and I’m very proud to be one of them.”
Reminiscing about the London Games she added: “It is so strange because it is nearly eight years ago but it’s still so fresh and so raw.
“When I hear [or see] it, it makes me all twitchy and nervous and fills me with all those emotions again that I had on that day. It’s incredible.”
She also highlighted the importance of a home Olympics to grow the profile of women’s sport in the UK.
“Those Olympics created a massive legacy and showcased some amazing sports to young girls who might not have watched them or heard about them,” she said.
“I think the London Olympics was incredible for doing that.”
Darts player Fallon Sherrock finished fifth in the vote, for becoming the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship when she beat Ted Evetts 3-2 at the end of 2019.
She said: “Just to get the privilege of being in the actual vote itself is an honour for me anyway and then to get voted [fifth] – I’m amazed by it.
“Obviously with darts it’s always been seen as male dominated. It was nice when we got the opportunity as women to go and play and to have the moment of winning a game against the men on the biggest stage there is was something I’ve always dreamed of.
“It was an unbelievable moment and all my emotions were going, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“It changed my world completely and once that game was done I had the opportunity to play two more games and the momentum changed and everyone was watching it. It was an amazing experience and if I could go back and re-live it I definitely would.”
