ONCE the crowds had packed up and gone home from the Rio Olympics, Jessica Ennis-Hill put her silver medal away and decided to retire from athletics.

It was the end of an era which had seen her win heptathlon gold in London and become a poster girl for every aspiring sportsman, woman and child of a generation.

But what next? For someone used to training hard every day, the prospect of sitting at home and twiddling her thumbs was never going to happen.

“Being driven is ingrained in me,” the 30-year-old tells me. “It’s the person I am, but it will now just manifest itself in different ways.

“I still want to be the best I can be, just at different things and in new opportunities

“I am just motivated by different things now and try to enjoy them as much as possible.”

So what was the plan when she retired last year?

“I absolutely didn’t have a plan,” she laughs. “I wanted to spend more time with my family and friends [she has a two-year-old son Reggie], but beyond that I thought I’d just wait and see what came along.

“You can’t allow yourself to think about what’s next when you’re in the thick of it, because you are still just trying to be the best you can be within your career. I just hoped I’d find something else that would fulfil me.”

Sponsorship, coaching, adverts, sports ambassador roles, an autobiography and now children’s books have all been thrown into the ring since then.

Her damehood was announced in the New Year’s Honours list and this month Jessica announced she was pregnant with her second child, due in the autumn. Exciting times then?

“Yes which is why I’m trying to fit in as much as possible because I won’t have time at the end of the year,” she grins. “So I’m just enjoying as many different things as possible. And writing the Evie’s Magic Bracelet series has been completely different to anything I’ve ever done before.”

Which is how Jessica finds herself preparing to visit the Oxford Literary Festival on Saturday to talk, not about not her autobiography, but Evie, which was written to inspire and encourage children and their sporting abilities.

Different to her usual fans then? “I get a lot of letters and tweets and emails from children actually,” she says,” but this is different. I went to a book signing in Sheffield (her home town) and met a little girl born during the 2012 Olympics called Jess after me, which was quite surreal.

“It all seems like five minutes ago when the London Olympics were happening but its been a few years now, so it’s nice to have fans like that.”

In Evie’s Magic Bracelet, Evie is sent a beautiful bracelet by her Grandma Iris in Jamaica. But the bracelet isn’t just beautiful, it’s magical too, and allows her to see and use magic all around her. The stories aim to inspire children to believe in themselves and have the determination to reach their full potential.

“In my mind I knew that I’d inspired girls and boys by what I’d achieved as an athlete and show them what they can achieve when they grow up if they work hard and train hard. And I’m trying to write books with the same message now.”

It’s a fine line though between being a pushy parent and a supportive one. “I know,” she laughs. “I see Reggie and think he’s jumped far, or run fast and I’m so proud of him, but they have to find things out in their own way, and that may come about by trying different things.

“But my parents were always massively supportive, without forcing me to do anything. You have to learn to sit back and let them work it out for themselves.”

So how is she at public speaking? “I tend to go for Q&As and can then talk my experiences and my athletic career,” she laughs, “so no, I’m not a massive public speaker, but I’m happy about coming to the Oxford Literary Festival because I love doing things that challenge me and take me out of my comfort zone.”

Books aside, does Jess miss the track? “I’m in a different phase of my life now, but I’m still training. I want to stay fit and keep relatively active.

“After Rio, or any major competition, I would take a few weeks off and do nothing, but even when I was pregnant with Reggie I needed to exercise and will continue to do that.

“I don’t have a strict regime anymore or have to train everyday which is nice.”

And how does she juggle her schedule now with one son and another child on the way? “It’s not as hard as when I was training for Rio because on top of my training I had sponsorship deals and commercial things that I was committed to, so I have more time certainly than I did before and get to see more of Reggie. Its a good balance now.”

As for being named a Dame in the 2017 New Year Honours List, Jessica says: “It was incredible. I could not quite believe it and I’m going to the palace next month to receive the award. It’s such an honour.”

It’s all worked out for the best then? “I thought I’d retire, have children and then throw myself into something new, but it didn’t happen like that, it all happened together instead and I was thrown into the child world.

“But it is a great place to be, which is why I wrote my children’s series, because Evie is based on my own character.”

Are Reggie and husband Andy coming along to Oxford then to see her speak? “No they are having a Daddy’s day so I will be a bit nervous beforehand, but I’m looking forward to it more than anything, because I’m more than happy for people to talk to me. “And if they want to concentrate on me as an athlete and what I achieved, then that’s fine because that was my life.”