Stadium closure saddens Ennis

Olympic champion Jessica Ennis was lamenting the loss of her training home on Friday night after Sheffield City Council voted to close and demolish Don Valley Stadium in a cost-cutting measure.

Sheffield City Council said the £700,000 it spent subsidising the facility in 2012/13 is unsustainable as the stadium is running at a loss, and they voted in favour of closure during a five-hour budget meeting on Friday.

Ennis responded on Twitter, writing: "So sad to lose Don Valley Stadium! Where it all started for me. Great memories."

The heptathlon gold medallist was discovered at the stadium when she attended an athletics club at the age of 10, and she has continued to train there.

After her triumph in August, some people called for the Don Valley Stadium to be renamed in her honour.

It is also home to the City of Sheffield Athletics Club, while the Sheffield Eagles play some of their home rugby league games there.

The council said it subsidises every visit by more than £5 and it requires major repair and maintenance work - totalling around £1.6million.

It has proposed the reopening of the track at the smaller Woodbourn Road Stadium nearby.

Mike Corden, chairman of City of Sheffield Athletics Club, was furious, describing the stadium as the best in the country for athletics and saying Friday night's decision reflects the reality of the Olympic legacy.

"The writing was on the wall when they didn't instantly rename it after Jess following the Olympics," he said. "We asked that question straight away and the politicians averted their eyes and waited for it to go away."