Four years after reluctantly watching the Beijing Games on TV following a career-threatening foot injury, Ennis made light of the weight of expectation on her shoulders to leave her rivals battling for silver and bronze.
Three personal bests in the previous six events meant Ennis went into the final discipline, the ۸۰۰m, with a commanding ۱۸۸ - point lead that equated to a ۱۳ - second advantage over Lithuania ' s Austra Skujyte.
A run of two minutes ۵.۶۹ seconds would have seen Ennis become only the fourth woman in history to score ۷,۰۰۰ points, and even though there was no need for such heroics, the ۲۶ - year - old from Sheffield blasted through the opening lap on her way to victory in ۲:۰۸. ۶۵.
Russian world champion Tatyana Chernova claimed silver with ۶,۶۲۸ points, with Ukraine ' s Lyudmyla Yosypenko taking bronze in a personal best of ۶,۶۱۸.
Ennis ' time was outside her personal best but still enough for a new overall PB of ۶,۹۵۵ points to improve on the national record of ۶,۹۰۶ she set earlier this year.
Russia ' s Tatyana Chernova, who took Ennis ' s world title last year, claimed silver a distant ۳۲۷ points behind, with Ukraine ' s Lyudmyla Yosypenko taking bronze a further ۱۰ points back.
Sensational
Ennis, who follows in the footsteps of ۲۰۰۰ champion Denise Lewis, had fittingly ignited the athletics programme with a sensational performance in the opening discipline on Friday morning, her ۱۰۰m hurdles time of ۱۲.۵۴s not only a British record and personal best but also the same as that which won individual gold in Beijing.
A high jump of ۱.۸۶m was marginally disappointing and she briefly lost the lead following Skujyte ' s heptathlon world best of ۱۷.۳۱m in the shot, but another personal best of ۲۲.۸۳s in the ۲۰۰m gave Ennis her biggest first - day score of ۴,۱۵۸ points and a lead of ۱۸۴.
The second day brought an excellent ۶.۴۸m in the long jump - a source of concern over no - jumps just six weeks earlier - before yet another personal best of ۴۷.۴۹m in the javelin effectively sealed the win.
" I am so shocked I can ' t believe it, " a tearful Ennis said. " After the javelin I didn ' t let myself believe it.
" After all the hard work and disappointment of Beijing, everyone has supported me so much. They said ' go for another four years ', and I ' ve done that.
"I'm going to savour the moment. I've had great support although I've been under a huge amount of pressure."
