Outdoor play activities in the garden make World Champions
19/08/2009 The family of the new golden girl of British athletics Jessica Ennis have been explaining how 'tadpole', as she was nicknamed, was always indulging in outdoor play activities in the garden as a child.
After being sent to a summer athletics camp, Ennis returned as a voracious competitor who would run round the family garden in the Peak District for hours, reports the Daily Mirror.
Grandmother Margaret Powell, 69, would time her runs and granddad Rod, 70, would later give her £5 every time she achieved a personal best when she started competing for the Sheffield Athletics Club.
Rod, a retired charity director, told the news provider how having a long back garden helped her improve her times.
He said: "As a three or four-year-old she would run along the garden and ask my wife to time her. She would shout out, 'Time me, grandma, see how long it takes me to get up here'."
So there is the proof that playing in the back garden makes world champions.
Ennis is set to become one of the faces of the London 2012 Olympics, which will run from July 27th to August 12th 2012.
After being sent to a summer athletics camp, Ennis returned as a voracious competitor who would run round the family garden in the Peak District for hours, reports the Daily Mirror.
Grandmother Margaret Powell, 69, would time her runs and granddad Rod, 70, would later give her £5 every time she achieved a personal best when she started competing for the Sheffield Athletics Club.
Rod, a retired charity director, told the news provider how having a long back garden helped her improve her times.
He said: "As a three or four-year-old she would run along the garden and ask my wife to time her. She would shout out, 'Time me, grandma, see how long it takes me to get up here'."
So there is the proof that playing in the back garden makes world champions.
Ennis is set to become one of the faces of the London 2012 Olympics, which will run from July 27th to August 12th 2012.
