Image of the Day - Jessica Ennis

Record breaker - Jessica Ennis

Ennis Sets New British Record

Jessica Ennis set a new British heptathlon record as she won the Hypo event in Austria with 6,906 points.

Her score beat the old British best of 6,831, set by former Olympic champion Denise Lewis in 2000.

Russia's Tatyana Chernova, who last year took the world title previously held by Ennis, was 132 points behind in second, with Lyudmyla Yosypenko third.

"I knew I was capable of doing it. It was just a case of putting it together on the day," said Ennis.

"It's something that's been at the back of my mind and I wanted to achieve, but I didn't want to put too much pressure on it."

It was Ennis's third successive win at the Gotzis event, her last heptathlon before the London Olympics.

The 26-year-old from Sheffield had led by more than 200 points after a first day in which she set a new personal best of 22.88secs in the 200m and produced strong performances in the shot and 100m hurdles.

She finished the first day with a score of 4,113 points, 33 better than her overnight total at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, when she set her previous best of 6,823 points.

Her second-day performance had cost her the world title in Daegu last year, but in Gotzis she began by equalling her personal best of 6.51m in the long jump.

She then threw a new personal best of 47.11m in the javelin, improving her previous mark by 40cm.

"I brought the long jump back and proved my javelin's in a better state. I'm over the moon," added Ennis.

Her efforts left her needing to complete the final event, the 800m, in two minutes and 14 seconds in order to beat Lewis's mark.

She led from the gun and, despite being passed by Chernova just short of the line, finished in 2mins 9secs to set the new mark and gain a psychological edge over her leading rivals in the run-up to the Olympics.

Ennis said she believes losing at the World Championships helped her refocus on the heptathlon.

"I've learned from those times," she commented. "I learned what I need to do in the long jump, what I needed to do in the javelin and I've been able to rectify those events. It's been a bit of a learning curve, which is good."

Stella Launches Team GB Kit

British triple jumper Phillips Idowu added: "All eyes will be watching London 2012 so every little detail matters.

"I love what Stella has done with the design. Looking good is psychologically important but my sprint suit is also technically advanced, so not only do I look good but I also have confidence in the technology in the kit."

McCartney admitted the Union Jack had been prominent in the design process.

She said: "The first place to start on a project like this is to look at the Union flag.

"For me it's one of the most beautiful flags in the world and it was important for me to stay true to that iconic design but also to modernise it and present it in a contemporary way.

"Ultimately, we wanted the athletes to feel like a team and be proud with the identity we created."

Sunderland striker and Team GB hopeful Fraizer Campbell has given his backing to the 2012 Olympics kits after they were officially unveiled.

Campbell was one of a number of athletes from a range of sports to attend the launch of the kit created by fashion designer Stella McCartney at the Tower of London.

Blue is the predominant colour but Campbell is confident the strips will be a hit across Britain.

The former Manchester United man told Sky Sports: "It has to represent all the countries so I think Adidas and Stella have done a great job to get everyone combined and bring it out in the kits.

"Every kit is similar so whatever event you are watching you will be able to tell which are the British athletes."

#London2012

Ennis Second to Dobrynska

Britain's Jessica Ennis had to settle for silver as Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine won the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships.

Ennis needed to beat Dobrynska by a sizeable margin in the closing 800m to retain her world indoor title.

The Briton thought she had done enough when official scoring suggested she had won when she crossed the line first.

“I'm absolutely gutted, it was a terrible long jump”Jessica Ennis

But her celebrations were quickly cut short when it was confirmed that Dobrynska had broken the world record.

The Ukrainian managed to finish within three seconds of Ennis - who ran a personal best - and set a new pentathlon world best of 5013 points, ahead of Ennis on 4965 points and Lithuanian Austra Skujyte on 4802.

"It's the worst feeling in the world," Ennis said of initially seeing her name in first place after the 800m. "I looked at the scoreboard and thought I'd won."

Ennis had begun the day in Istanbul with a brilliant run in the hurdles, dominating the field to win in 7.91s, but flirted with disaster in the high jump until clearing 1.87m at her third and final attempt.

The Sheffield athlete responded with a shot put of 14.79m - the furthest she has ever thrown, indoors or out - to lead by 10 points overall heading into the long jump.

But after an opening leap of 6.19m, Ennis followed up with 6.18m before being red-flagged for overstepping the board on her final effort.

"I'm absolutely gutted, it was a terrible long jump," she said, knowing that she had left herself a huge task in the 800m.

Russia's world heptathlon champion Tatyana Chernova had an even more disappointing day, finishing in fifth place behind Poland's Karolina Tyminska in fourth.

Elsewhere, reigning 60m champion Dwain Chambers progressed comfortably in the heats, as did fellow Briton Mo Farah in the 3,000m.

Chambers won his opening round in 6.64 seconds, matching the time of American Justin Gatlin in the previous race, and said: "It's nice to get the first heat out of the way."

Farah had to put in a sprint around the final bend of his heat with only the top four making the final, but in the end he came through in second place.

"I had to dig in hard," said the Londoner. "My aim was to slowly wind it up and try to get rid of as many people as possible. It's all about the final and trying to save as much energy as I can."

Britain had enjoyed an impressive start to day one, with Yamile Aldamamaking Saturday's triple jump final in the first round of qualifying with 14.62m - the third longest indoor jump of the year.

European indoor 3,000m champion Helen Clitheroe qualified for the 3,000m final as fastest loser in 9.02:27. She said: "It's always a massive relief to get through the heats, I'm pleased. I wanted to make sure I was in the first four or, if it was a fast time, get through as a fastest qualifier."

Nadine Okyere joins Shana Cox in Friday's 400m semi-final, while Joe Thomas and Andrew Osagie qualified for the 800m semi-final, both running 1.49:73.

In the men's 400m, Richard Buck (47.05s) and Nigel Levine (47.56s) will join world outdoor 400m champion Kirani James of Grenada in the semi-finals at 1810 GMT.

Australian 60m hurdles star Sally Pearson looked imperious as she won her heat in 7.41 seconds but Kristi Castlin, ranked number one in the world last year, went out in controversial circumstances.

The American was one of several athletes during the day to incorrectly think there had been a false start, with Jamaican sprinter Lerone Clarke another to make an early exit before complaining about the starter's gun.

Just the Little Things for Jessica

Jessica Ennis feels it is the little things which will make the biggest difference in her quest for Olympic heptathlon gold.

The Sheffield athlete, 26, heads out to the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul on the back of an impressive performance from the recent Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham, where she ran the fastest time this year for the 60 metres hurdles and set a personal best of 6.47 metres in the long jump.

Ennis may have surrendered her world crown to Russia’s Tatyana Chernova in Daegu last summer, but the Briton is in no doubt that by the time all eyes are on London, she will have done everything possible to give herself that winning edge.

'Training has been going well, so have the competitions, so I am looking forward to heading out to the world indoors and hoping I can raise my game a bit more and perform well out there,' said Ennis at the launch the new Powerade Olympic Games Sports Bottle, which will be used to hydrate the athletes at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

'I think it is going to be quite small margins and key events which I need to make sure I get right. Doing those will hopefully gather me a few more points.

'I have kind of put Daegu to the back of my mind, to be honest. That year is done with - if I had won last year, by now I would have already put it behind me.

'I have to just focus on what I have got to do this year.'

Ennis will go head to head with Chernova in Turkey for the first time since having to settle for World Championship silver.

The British athlete, though, feels the competition is positive.

She said: “Every year you have a rivalry with someone, whether it is domestic or international, someone ups their game and things change.

'I don’t see it as just a rivalry between me and Chernova, there are a few other girls who are performing well and have done in the past, so I see it as a battle between all of us.'

As with many other leading Team GB athletes, Ennis has seen her profile raised by more and more media demands - the latest being a glamour photoshoot for a glossy magazine.

'To walk into your local shop and see all those Marie Claire magazines with me on the front was very strange,' she said. 'But it was a great opportunity and I loved every minute of it.'

Ennis revealed Olympic fever is close to reaching fever pitch in her home town of Sheffield - 'you cannot escape it,' she said.

However, the 26-year-old has no intention of letting the hype distract her from the ultimate goal of success in London.

'I have got so much training to do, my thoughts are on the competitions, and the people around me are keeping me very focused on the job in hand,' said Ennis, who like most competitive sportspeople is aware of the importance the right psychology can play.

'Pressure is difficult, but I do like that kind of pressure - and the pressure the athletes have at the moment is a nice pressure because they are all supportive, and expect you to win medals.

'Everyone is trying to get behind you, with all that positive energy.'

For all Olympic hopefuls, it will be a delicate balancing act over the next five months of ensuring peak condition for their events while also guarding against injury.

She said: 'The Olympics is that one moment you train so hard for all those years. You have to make sure you are in great shape, are injury free and ready to compete to the best of your ability.'

Ennis added: 'You have to just be sensible, to train as hard as you can because you have to push yourself, but at the same time, obviously you don’t want to pick up injuries.

'Sometimes, though, they happen any, when you have no control, a freak injury while training or at a competition, that is just part of sport.

You are always quite aware of your body, so if you do feel something which is not the general stiffness or is just sore from training, then I think this is the year where people would say ‘right, I am not going to do that extra rep, I am just going to take it easy for the next set’, just to really make sure you are not picking up anything.

'However, you don’t want to think about that all the time, because otherwise it would drive you mad.'

Thoughts of what a life-changing moment actually delivering gold in London for a British athlete could certainly do just that.

As always, though, Ennis intends to take things in her stride.

She said: 'They are kind of added bonuses to achieving your goals. I keep focused on doing the performances to get that medal and be where I want to be.

'All the stuff afterwards is just added extras isn’t it?'

Ennis Shows Form in BIrmingham

Jessica Ennis ran the fastest 60m hurdles in the world this year as British athletes impressed at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham.

The heptathlete ran a personal best 7.87 seconds to beat hurdles specialist Danielle Carruthers into second.

Pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale, long jumpers Shara Procter and JJ Jegede, 400m runners Shana Cox and Nigel Levine and high jumper Robbie Grabarz all won.

But Mo Farah came second behind Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in the two miles.

Kipchoge was too strong in the closing stages and finished in a personal best of 8:07.39, while 5,000m world champion Farah still broke the British and European record with his time of 8:08.07.

"I was a bit disappointed with the race," Farah told BBC Sport. "I felt a bit heavy."

That was in marked contrast to many of his fellow Britons, with the jumpers in particular impressing as both Proctor (6.80m) and Jegede (8.04m) set personal bests - Proctor breaking the British record.

Ennis also set a personal best with 6.47m in the long jump to set her up for next month's defence of her pentathlon title at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

"I feel in really good shape and to come here and do two PBs is definitely where I need to be in a few weeks' time for the World Indoors," said Ennis.

"You never know how the next year's going to go, how you are going to build on it, if you are going to improve.

"At this stage in my career I don't expect to be making massive, massive improvements, so when you do do personal bests it gives you a lot of confidence and I have really built on last year."

Bleasdale gave another indication of her remarkable recent improvement by defeating Poland's Anna Rogowska on countback in the pole vault, with both women clearing 4.70m after the Briton had earlier failed her opening two efforts at 4.52m.

"I still feel like there's something lacking in my jumping," said Bleasdale. "My run-up was really good again today but I can't seem to translate that speed into my vault to get the big heights - but to jump 4.70, I'm really happy."

In the high jump, Grabarz was six centimetres clear of Slovakia's Michal Kableka with a winning leap of 2.32m, while fellow Briton Samson Oni took third with 2.23m.

Levine won the men's 400m in 45.71, although Costa Rican Nery Brenes had the victory within his grasp before falling in the final few metres which allowed the Briton to run past. Richard Buck earlier won a national 400m race in 45.88.

Hannah England declared herself "really pleased" with a season's best 4:09.79 in the 1500m, although the Briton was never in touch with Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba, who powered away to win in 4:01.33.

Asha Philip ran a personal best 7.19 in the 60m, and Joe Thomas did the same with 1:46.35 in the 800m.

Among the international stars on show, Asafa Powell had to settle for third (6.50) in the men's 60m behind fellow Jamaicans Nesta Carter (6.49) and Lerone Clarke (6.47).

And China's Liu Xiang dominated the 60m hurdles, clocking a national record 7.41 to finish ahead of Cuban rival Dayron Robles (7.50).

"I am especially happy to get a national as well as Asian record," said Xiang. "I still feel though that over the first two hurdles I didn't do very well and that there is work to be done there. I am excited about the rest of the year now."

Jessica Delights in Trials

Jessica Ennis was satisfied with her performance on day one of the UK Trials and Championships as she builds up to the defence of her world indoor pentathlon title next month.

The 26-year-old started the day with hard-earned victory in the high jump.

She then threw 14.09m in the shot put, which placed her sixth, but still exceeded her target for the event.

“When you have someone there in a real battle, it makes you raise your game. It was a good competition”Jessica Ennis

"I'm really happy. It was my first high jump competition of the indoor season and it felt comfortable," Ennis said.

Competing on familiar territory at the two-day event held at the English Institute of Sport, where she trains in her home city of Sheffield, the former outdoor world heptathlon champion cleared her opening three heights at the first attempt, but needed two attempts to clear both 1.85m and 1.87m.

She took three attempts to clear 1.89m and found herself trailing Emma Perkins, who set a new personal best when she cleared the same height first time.

But Ennis then dug deep to clear 1.91m at the first attempt to seal victory - and equal her best jump of 2011.

Ennis added: "It's nice to start off jumping in the [one metre] 90s because that's what I need to do in the pentathlon or heptathlon, so it's promising for the rest of the year."

She also paid tribute to Perkins's performance, adding: "You always want to jump as high as you can for yourself, but when you have someone there in a real battle it makes you raise your game.

"It was a good competition because it puts you under pressure when you have to clear heights at the third attempt.

"You worry a bit [when you miss jumps early in the competition], because you don't want to go out at that height and I really wanted to jump in the 1.90s, but you have to get yourself together and re-focus."

Her 14.09m in the shot put was some way down on Ennis's personal best of 14.67m, but she was happy after setting herself the target of throwing more than 14m.

Ennis is due to compete in the 60m hurdles and long jump on Sunday, ahead of the Grand Prix at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on 18 February, as she continues her Olympic build-up.

Veteran Yamile Aldama won the triple jump with 14.09m, and the 39-year-old continues to impress after reaching the World Championship final last year.

Margaret Adeoye won the 200m in 23.36 seconds, the fastest time in Europe this year, while Jonathan Mellor produced a storming finish to win the 3,000m title in a personal best of 7:58.36.

Jessica Ennis Uses Daegu

Jessica Ennis is on course to shrug off the misery of her silver medal at the World Championships when she competes at London 2012, according to coach Toni Minichiello.

The heptathlete could only manage silver in Daegu last year.

Six months from the start of the Olympics, Minichiello claims Ennis is desperate to put that right.

"She's really hungry," he said. "A lot of that is fuelled by what happened in Daegu and finishing second."

Ennis, who turns 26 on Saturday, steps up her preparations for London when she competes in the McCain Indoor City Challenge in her hometown of Sheffield next weekend.

She then has the national indoor championships before heading to Istanbul for the World Indoor Championships on 9 March.

Ennis, who missed the 2008 Olympics in Beijing due to a broken foot, is seen as one of Great Britain's major medal hopes in London.

Her first major title was taking gold at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin but she lost her crown in South Korea last year.

Ennis beat gold medallist Tatyana Chernova in five of the events but a poor performance in the javelin proved crucial.

Minnichiello maintains that only fine margins thwarted Ennis in Daegu and that her build-up for London is going well.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: "We're trying to use [Daegu] as a positive - as a reset button -and move forward.

"There was an expectation in Daegu, going in as world number one. It was assumed that she'd won it.

"Even I got tied into that and was thinking that as long as she turned up she'd win it. But clearly that's not the case. You've got to get out there and work hard up to the day and on the day.

"Coming back from Daegu, I was scribbling things down in notebooks to change this and change that for about a week, and then and one very wise individual told me that all the work was done.

"She was in the best physical shape of her life in Daegu. She hit the hurdle two and hurdle eight in the first event, didn't get a lot of warm-up for the high jump, the javelin was naff by her usual standards, but we've learnt from that."

Minichiello admits he rarely discusses the importance London 2012 with Ennis, but he accepts it is difficult to play down the significance of the event in her career.

He said: "Having missed 2008, the Olympics is big and, looking at her age, this might be her only Olympics.

"She'll be 30 by the time Rio comes around so it's a question mark as to whether her body will stand up to doing heptathlon training by the time 2016 comes around. So there is a bit of all or nothing in 2012.

"I try to play down the Olympics as being a very small sports festival in London.

"By looking so far ahead you can lose sight or what's right in front of you. There are enough people talking about London that I don't need to add to it."