Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis has revealed that she sometimes tries to cover her arms to prevent herself from looking "butch".

The 26-year-old, who became the face of the London Olympic Games after winning the heptathlon in the summer, has claimed that she used to be a lot more self-conscious when she was growing up.

"I don't look in the mirror and think, 'Oh God yeah'. I don't think I'm anything special," Ennis writes in her book Unbelievable: From My Childhood Dreams to Winning Olympic Gold.

"I felt big muscles were unattractive and none of my friends at school had them. As a teenage girl I was more self-conscious. I would not wear certain things and, to some extent, I am the same now and will usually cover my arms. I look at myself in the mirror and think I am a bit butch but you get to a point where you finally understand that looks do not matter so much."

Meanwhile, the British athlete has been named Sportswoman of the Year by The Sunday Times.