Ennis-Hill 'heartbroken' over teacher's death

Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill has paid tribute to former teacher and athletics official Malcolm Rogers, who has died aged 81.

Rogers taught the World Championship winning heptathlete, as well cricketer Joe Root, during his time at King Ecgbert School in Sheffield.

Outside of education he was an athletics official for more than 50 years, working as Athletics Competition Director for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic and was awarded an MBE in 2023 for his services to the sport.

In a social media post Dame Jessica said: "Heartbroken. Malcolm was such an amazing man. He'll be missed by so many."

UK Athletics described Rogers as "one of the best athletics officials in Britain and the world for more than 50 years".

In a statement they said: "What made Malcolm so special and so integral was his reliability and efficiency, especially during extremely stressful moments during major events where athletes were bidding to realise their dreams in front of thousands of people in the stands and millions watching on television."

The organisation said tributes would be paid to Rogers at the forthcoming UK Athletics Indoor Championships starting on Saturday.

King Ecgbert School said: "During his time at our school, Malcolm supported and influenced many young people, including two of our most well known alumni, Jess Ennis-Hill and Joe Root.

"His calm leadership, integrity and commitment to opportunity for all left a lasting impression on our community.

"He was also a champion for equality, diversity and inclusion, helping to bring para athletics into mainstream competition.

"Sheffield has lost a remarkable man, and many of us have lost someone who helped shape our lives."

Speaking on receipt of his MBE in 2023, Rogers told England Athletics: "I was surprised and very humbled.

"It may have been me that's been honoured but the people who really deserve this are the heroes of athletics - those people who go out and run things at club level on wet Wednesday nights."

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