That equated to a cushion of just under six seconds over the field in the 800m, and with Ennis-Hill boasting a personal best three and a half seconds faster than Broersen’s and more than a second faster than that of Theisen-Eaton, the race was effectively a coronation.
Yet nothing about this win should be taken for granted, with a gold medal here arguably more impressive even than her Olympic triumph of 2012.
Where her rivals either underperformed or cracked under the pressure, Ennis-Hill was by contrast relentlessly consistent – a solid 12.91 seconds in the 100m hurdles, an equal season’s best with 1.86m in the high jump, 13.73m in the shot put and 23.42secs in the 200m.
While several women have come back from childbirth to win distance-running titles, no multi-eventer has ever come back to win a world title.
And when her training was repeatedly interrupted by Achilles problems in the first half of this year, the Briton’s hopes of even getting a qualifying score for these World Championships seemed remote.
Only an improved showing over the sprint hurdles at the Anniversary Games at the end of July persuaded her and coach Toni Minichiello that it was worth travelling to China, and then with a target of a podium place rather than a repeat of the world title she won in 2009.
After she had come past Theisen-Eaton in the home straight of the 800m, she fell to the track with her hands over her face. A road back that began with a 15-minute bike ride last November ended on a warm Beijing night in fairytale fashion.