Jessica throws down gauntlet to her Rio rivals
IT was a far cry from Rio de Janeiro but Britain’s golden girl Jessica Ennis-Hill impressed as she put the final touches to her Olympic preparation at the Stretford Grand Prix in Manchester. The 30-year-old further justified being favourite to win heptathlon gold next month by launching the javelin 46.09m, her best throw since returning to competition after giving birth to son Reggie, now 23 months. But the build-up to Rio for Katarina Johnson-Thompson, long identified as her heir apparent, suffered another hiccup as she struggled to throw 36.63m, more than five metres down on her best. In Loughborough last weekend Johnson-Thompson, 23, was forced to withdraw from the long jump and was way below par in the 100m hurdles, placing question marks over her ability to launch a challenge for Olympic gold. Ennis-Hill competed in Manchester with the aim of throwing over 45m to give her a chance of being in the No 1 pool for the javelin at the Olympics. ‘They split the field in two so probably the 16 who have thrown furthest this season go in one pool and the other 16 throw first,’ said Toni Minichiello, Ennis-Hill’s coach, ‘If Jess doesn’t make the top pool it’s a bit like Bolt running one final against lesser runners and then the five other better runners competing in a second final and then working out who won. It makes it better for spectators if the medal favourites compete directly against each other.’ Ennis-Hill competes in the 100m hurdles and long jump at the Anniversary Games at London’s Olympic Stadium this weekend and is undoubtedly in the best shape she has been since winning gold there four years ago.