Filed under: Other Sports, Athletics
Jessica Ennis has returned from Austria in a far more contented frame of mind than she possessed for the outward journey.And that can only be bad news for Denise Lewis - who must know that her 11-year heptathlon record is now under serious threat in the build-up to the World Championships - and the rest of Ennis' rivals for Daegu in August.
Remarkably, after eight weeks out with a troublesome ankle problem, the golden girl of British Athletics came within 33 points of her personal best in winning the prestigious World Combined Events Challenge in Gotzis.
Her winning total of 6,790 points was the second highest of her career and 59 more than her winning total in the Worlds in Berlin two years ago and included lifetime bests in the 200m and 800m.
If she can produce those kind of performances and figures, when she has only been back in training six weeks, then Lewis' 6,831 mark achieved in 2000 in Talence, France, is clearly in danger, if not this season, then certainly in Olympic year.
Lewis knows it is only a matter of time that the record will have to be handed over to Ennis and after an 11-year reign there can be few more fitting GB heptathletes to take up the baton.
Ennis has to be congratulated for making the event in Austria and putting her two-year unbeaten record in multi-events on the line, when she could easily have ducked the challenge.
The benefits of victory are important enough, but the mental strength she has gained from knowing she can get herself up to speed for high class competition in six weeks will be of even greater benefit.
She was on a hiding to nothing if she had gone to compete and produced a lacklustre two days. Her ankle feels fine, but more importantly her mind feels far better as she prepares to face the biggest 12-months of her already glittering career.
"I just feel massive, massive, massive relief and my ankle feels brilliant, so that's really positive," she said. "I always wanted to come here but then halfway through my injury I started to think there wasn't enough time to be ready. I had about six weeks to prepare and that's about the bare minimum you need.
"I didn't want to come and produce a poor score and send out the wrong message with the World Championships this year. It was a bit of a gamble but as I started training I found I was in quite good shape and running well.
"The gamble paid off and it's given me so much confidence. Now I know that if I have an injury I can get myself into shape in six weeks."
Ennis has not lost a heptathlon or pentathlon competition since returning to action in 2009 from the multiple foot fractures she suffered at the same Gotzis meeting.
As dress rehearsals for her world title defence go, this could not have been better - with most of her key rivals were in the field, apart from American Hyleas Fountain, the Olympic silver medallist.
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