Team GB athletes pay tribute to Jessica Ennis-Hill following heptathlete's retirement

Team GB athletes past and present today paid tribute to Jessica Ennis-Hill as the heptathlete announced her decision to walk away from athletics.

Following her silver medal at the Rio Olympics, Ennis-Hill said she would take time out to decide her future.

She had considered signing off at next year’s World Championships at the Olympic Stadium, the venue of her London 2012 gold.

But this morning, the 30-year-old announced that her performance in Brazil would be the last of an illustrious career that also saw her win two world titles and a European crown.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who finished sixth in Rio, is now Britain’s No1 heptathlete and she was among those to pay tribute today. She tweeted: “A sad day for athletics! A real inspiration to me and so many others. Well done on an incredible career @J_Ennis.”

Former British heptathlete Kelly Sotherton wrote: “It’s sad to hear that @J_Ennis had retired before @London2017. She has achieved the pinnacle of sport and is a fabulous role model to anyone.”

And Dai Greene, former world 400m hurdles champion, tweeted: “Sad that we won’t get to see you compete again, such a hero to me and so many other athletes. Enjoy your retirement…”

Ennis-Hill had an inauspicious start to her career when she missed the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing due to stress fractures in her right foot.

But she returned to top-flight competition 12 months later by announcing herself on the senior stage with the first or her two world titles.

The following year, she was crowned European champion but she will forever be defined by London 2012 when, despite immense pressure as the poster girl of her home Games, she sealed gold with a national record of 6,955 points.

A period of injury ensued followed by the announcement that she was pregnant and she would be taking time out of the sport.

Her return to competition was almost more impressive than what had gone before as, defying constant Achilles injuries and performing the juggling act of being a parent and an athlete, she made a late decision to compete at the World Championships in Beijing where she won gold. It was the mother of all comebacks, describing it as “one of the greatest moments of my career”.

However, there was not to be the same fairytale farewell in Rio as she finished just 35 points off gold although said she was “proud” to have made it onto the podium.