Britain's gold medal winner Jessica Ennis is kissed by her teammates Katarina Johnson-Thompson, left, and Louise Hazel after the women's heptathlon during athletics competition in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, in
Britain's gold medal winner Jessica Ennis is kissed by her teammates Katarina Johnson-Thompson, left, and Louise Hazel after the women's heptathlon during athletics competition in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, in London. Matt Dunham, Associated Press
By Associated Press

This wasn't a competition. It was a coronation.

With a healthy lead in the heptathlon, Britain's Olympic poster girl Jessica Ennis could almost have walked around the final event, the 800 meters. But the roars of 80,000 fans carried her over the line in first place.

As she headed around the second and last lap, the Olympic Stadium announcer implored the crowd to make more noise. And, somehow, they did. And they carried her over the line in first place.

I've been in some noisy stadiums in my time (vuvuzelas in South Africa, anybody?) but this felt — I could physically feel the roar — like the loudest by far.

—Mike Corder — Twitter http://www.twitter.com/mikecorder

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EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

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