News30 Oct 2013


Ennis-Hill looking to regain world indoor title

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Jessica Ennis competes in the pentathlon 60m hurdles at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships (© Getty Images)

Britain’s Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill has set her sights on regaining her pentathlon title at the IAAF World Indoor Championships next year, she told local media in her native Sheffield on Thursday (30).

The 2014 World Indoor Championships will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.

Ennis-Hill won the 2010 world indoor pentathlon title in Doha but had to settle for the silver medal last year in Istanbul after a thrilling duel with Natallia Dobrynska, despite setting a British record and recording the third-best tally ever with 4965 points, as the Ukrainian had an inspired day and set a world indoor record of 5013.

Now 27, Ennis-Hill said she was ahead of schedule as she recovers from an achilles tendon injury that ruled her out of this year’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

She said she was “quite a bit down the road” with her rehabilitation, which started in early September.

“I really want to do the indoor season," added the 2009 world champion. "I am still playing it week by week to see if I can get back into full training but that is still the hope. I want to do the pentathlon at the World Indoors next March."

Sadly, there will be no re-match with Dobrynska as her rival announced her official retirement last Sunday.

Ennis-Hill has struggled with achilles and heel problems since the start of the 2013 season.

She ended her triumphant 2012 summer campaign after winning the Olympic gold medal in front of her ecstatic home fans and only competed at two meetings this year, both in July, as a way of assessing her fitness to potentially challenge for a medal in Moscow.

The one bright spot of the summer was that in one of her outings, at a low-key meeting in Loughborough, she improved her javelin best to 48.33m.

Phil Minshull for the IAAF

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