Golden girl Ennis warms up for Olympics by setting new British heptathlon record
By NEIL WILSON
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The crowning of Jessica Ennis as Olympic heptathlon champion awaits in London. The final burnishing of her gold medal credentials was a mission accomplished this weekend with the destruction of Denise Lewis's British record.
The record Lewis set a few weeks before she became Olympic champion in 2000 went the same way on Sunday as Ennis's most serious rivals - 2008 Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska and 2011 world champion Tatyana Chernova.
Brit special: Jessica Ennis celebrates beating Denise Lewis' record
All were ground into the rubber track in the small Austrian village of Gotzis where the world's elite multi-event athletes gather to do battle every year.
Ennis ran, jumped and threw her rivals out of contention in a Olympic dress rehearsal so complete that it ended with Ennis wrapped in a Union flag.
Her rivals were left utterly defeated, mentally and physically, and Lewis's record was dispatched to the dustbin of history by a margin of 75 points.
'I am so happy with the record,' said Ennis.
Focused: Ennis has put herself in pole position for the London Olympics
'It has been something at the back of my mind, something I had to achieve without wanting to put too much pressure on myself. Now I have it I am very pleased.'
Ennis won with 6,906 points by a massive margin of 132 points over Chernova, beating her in five of the seven events.
Dobrynska, world indoor champion just three months ago, was a distant ninth almost 600 points behind Ennis.
'They'll come back stronger in London but so will I, and I'll have a big crowd with me,' predicted Ennis.
Leap of faith: Ennis maintained her overnight lead to take victory
'I'm going to keep doing what I am doing, believing in what I'm doing and hopefully it will all come right in London. I just want to enjoy this moment, stay focused and build on it.'
Sunday began with the long jump, her achilles heel in the last year and the event that cost her the world indoor title in Istanbul in March.
It seemed it might be costly again when she reached only 6.23 metres with her first leap and fouled her second. But champions are made for moments like that.
Final flurry: Ennis (right) in the 800m
Ennis's third landed at 6.51, equalling her lifetime best.
The lead over her nearest challenger was now 251 points, unassailable unless there was a disaster in the javelin or 800 metres.
She suffered one memorably in Gotzis in 2008, suffering a stress fracture in an ankle that cost her a first Olympic Games.
But it was not to be this year.
The javelin sailed 47.11m, another career best, and then all she needed to surpass Lewis's record was an 800m in the range of 2min 14 sec.
Ennis aimed higher, knowing 2:09 would take her past 6,900 points, and she hit the time on the nail to become the first woman for five years to pass a points barrier only seven women have ever exceeded.
'I really wanted six-nine,' she said.
Now Ennis and her coach Toni Minichiello will return to Sheffield knowing that all that is required for Olympic gold are fine tuning and a few individual competitions. The first is over hurdles in Oslo on Thursday week.
'This gives me the self-belief going ahead,' she added.
'I have done the big block of my training and now I am going to train sensibly, just freshening up and sharpening up.'
Ennis expressed a desire to hold the British record after the first day's performances put her on target but she said it was not her primary intention.
That was to check where work still needed to be done and to establish a psychological edge over her main rivals before London.
Her first day score equalled the total of 4,113 she achieved on her way to a career best when she won the European title in 2010, but by a different route.
Gold standard: Ennis in the long jump
She was quicker in the 100m hurdles in 12.81, a record for her and this premier multi-event meeting; she was not as good in the high jump with 1.85 ('I should be jumping in the 1.90s', she said) but her shot put of 14.51 was better.
Ennis ended the day with a new 200m career best of 22.88 - faster than any of Britain's specialist sprinters this year - before stepping into a wheely-bin filled with iced water and chatting happily to the media.
Her vest was rolled up to avoid the water and exposed a six-pack that gave the lie to suggestions she is carrying surplus weight.
And when this 'fat' lady sang her final note in that triumphant 800 metres, it looked very much as if she would be hitting all the high notes and enjoying multiple encores in Stratford on August 4.
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