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Despite a recent virus, world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis is still strongly backed to add the European title to her medal haul
JESSICA ENNIS’S preparations for Barcelona have been slightly shaken by a virus which forced her to miss the Aviva European Trials but despite this setback, the world heptathlon champion still remains one of Britain’s brightest hopes for a gold medal at the European Championships, which start on July 27.
Ennis is ranked No.1 in Europe with a tally of 6689, which was set at the prestigious Gotzis Hypo-Meeting and the City of Sheffield athlete is highly favoured due to an impeccable championship record. Ennis has set a PB at every major championship she’s contested and at last year’s World Championships, Ennis took the gold medal with a score of 6731, which was exactly 100 points short of Denise Lewis’s UK record.
Even though many circles in the media have been tipping Ennis to surpass the mark of the former Olympic champion, the British record isn’t at the forefront of Ennis’s aims. Ennis told AW: “It’d be nice to get it but I’m really just concentrating on going out there and focusing on each event one at a time and improve on what I did last year.”
Ennis has made noticeable strides from last year with improvements in the long jump and the shot put, which are considered as being Ennis’s weakest events. At the Samsung Diamond League meeting in New York, Ennis improved her long jump PB to 6.51m and she also set a shot put PB of 14.25m en route to victory in Gotzis.
However, soon after her appearance at the three-event head-to-head with Hyleas Fountain in New York, Ennis was forced to miss two weeks of training and the Aviva European Trials with an inner ear virus, which was followed by a tentative return to competition at the Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead.
Despite performing below her normal standards in her last competition prior to Barcelona, Ennis reassures: “I’m feeling a lot better than I did in Gateshead and I feel I’ve got a bit more to give too, so I’m feeling a bit more relaxed about that and hoping that I should be ready when it comes round to Barcelona.”
The world champion, who was disappointed with her 200m performance in Gateshead, added: “I feel like I’ve had some really good speed sessions and ran some really good times so I’m quite pleased with that.
“I’ve had to cram a bit in to make sure I covered what I missed but I’m quite happy that I’ve got most of it.”
Ennis’s main rival will be former world youth and junior champion Tatyana Chernova from Russia, who finished second to Ennis in Gotzis. After a prestigious junior career, Chernova hasn’t made the same impact in the senior ranks but while Ennis is expected to lead after the first day of competition, watch out for Chernova to make a strong bid on the second day.
The long jump is among Chernova’s specialities and she was recently third at the Russian Championships with a wind-aided 6.79m. As well as this, Chernova is a consistent 50m performer in the javelin and has also run sub-2:07 for 800m.
Ennis is certainly aware of Chernova’s ability: “She’s definitely a danger if she gets it all right. She’s got a strong second day, so if she gets her first day right she could be very dangerous and I think there’s more to come from her.”
See this week’s Athletics Weekly for in-depth previews of the European Championships in Barcelona
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