Jessica Ennis-Hill hurdles into the unknown on return

Golden girl makes first competitive start for two years next Saturday

Jessica Ennis-Hill says the return to training after the birth of her son has been tough (PA)

At London 2012, the eyes of a nation were on Jessica Ennis-Hill. She could not go for her weekly shop in Sheffield without seeing billboards of herself plastered all over the city. Her face was everywhere nationwide too.

The pressure and the expectation on the poster girl of the Games climaxed the moment the 80,000-strong crowd packing the Olympic Stadium settled down for the opening event of that memorable heptathlon, the 100m hurdles.

Now the scene has shifted. She has been out of action for nearly two years, the spotlight has dimmed, the expectation lowered and the magnitude of the competition lessened: her return to competition is in another 100m hurdles race but this time in front of 10,000 people at the Great CityGames in Manchester on Saturday.

But, she points out, she will be almost as nervous as at London 2012: “It’s pretty close, I think. It’s going to be such a strange feeling because it’s been so long.

“And I do get nervous when I do bits of training, so when I am back in that environment and with a crowd of people watching and with some really fast girls in the race, I am going to be nervous. I’m nervous just talking about it!”

Quite how she will fare in six days time is unclear. The 29-year-old will certainly be hurdling into the unknown in her first competition for so long, up against the likes of Tiffany Porter, who usurped Ennis-Hill in her absence as British record-holder in the event.

She admits the return to training in November after the birth of her son, Reggie, was like starting all over again. There was a certain disenchantment when she found she struggled to lift something as lightweight as a 20 kilogram bar, which she could have done repeatedly before her pregnancy.

“Having not trained in that way for such a long time, just stepping back on to the track and getting back into the gym, you do lose quite a bit,” she says. “My strength went down from what I was lifting previously, so it was starting back at the beginning… it was a strange feeling.”

The return began with some bike sessions at home, followed by some short runs from home and then the occasional weight session before that first training session, which she describes as “a shock to the system”.

Reggie will be among those on the sidelines on Saturday with husband, Andy. The pair have enjoyed her training sessions. Last Sunday, they were on track to watch Ennis-Hill train and Reggie has already taken a shine to her training partners: “He likes blondes, so he has met a few of my blonde training partners – I think he was enjoying himself!”

She relishes having her son trackside, adamant it brings out the better side of her in training, pushing her to give that much more. But competition is different and Ennis-Hill, who has been in regular contact with the sports psychologist Pete Lindsay in the build-up to her return, is conscious that her competitive edge may be different.

“As an athlete, you always want to be the best you can, you want to win,” she adds. “But being a mum puts it all into perspective. It’s not the end of the world if I don’t win this race or throw that distance, but then I kind of am in conflict with myself because I am still really competitive. I still really want to win and throw further and jump higher, so it’s finding that balance with everything.”

To help her do that, she has sought the counsel of former skeleton world champion and Olympic silver medallist Shelley Rudman, who remained at the top of the sport despite the birth of her first child, Ella.

Rudman’s principal piece of advice when they first met just after Reggie’s birth was simply not to rush the return, and Ennis-Hill has avoiding doing just that. Then there has been the example of Jo Pavey – “an inspiration” as her GB team-mate – and Kim Clijsters, the former tennis star who claimed to be mentally tougher after being a mum.

“Motherhood makes me so busy that I haven’t got time to worry too much about things,” says Ennis-Hill. “So before, if I had a horrible session, I would worry about it all day, but now I’m so busy I just get on with it. I’ve not had as much sleep as I have had in previous years when I’ve trained and I’ve found it hard but I’ve just got to get on with it.”

For now, she is just finding her way with what are effectively two full-time occupations. But long term the goal remains the same: to defend her Olympic heptathlon title in Rio de Janeiro next year. That would have been a tough enough ask even without bringing up baby but she is adamant that a medal remains a realistic aim.

The back-up plan if things don’t go as they should could be to focus solely on the hurdles: “It’s always an option but it’s about getting back, getting competitive and getting to Rio. I really want to be competitive and I really want a medal. And I will do all I can to do that and to be there.” Manchester, this Saturday, is just the start.

The Great CityGames is in Manchester city centre on Saturday, live on BBC1 from 1-3pm

Run for the hills: Jessica’s rivals

Tiffany Porter: Ennis-Hill’s GB team-mate has usurped her as British record-holder at 100m hurdles and looks in superb form judging by her 12.56sec run in Clermont last month.

Brianna Rollins: Has had a slow start to season but remains a formidable threat in Manchester as the current world champion in the event.

Lucy Hatton: The 20-year-old was a revelation during the indoor season, bringing nearly half a second off her personal best (7.90sec) and winning European Indoor silver.