Jessica Ennis-Hill’s words could not have been much clearer or her body language more radiant. She was “incredibly happy” with her performances after setting three season’s bests at the Anniversary Games, and she felt that her comeback after nearly two years away from the sport was “exceeding expectations”. Her heptathlon friend and rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, meanwhile, pronounced herself “over the moon” after leaping 6.50m in the long jump.
Yet for all their smiles, which were as warm and pleasant as the Saturday afternoon in east London, it is still not known whether Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson will be duking it out for gold at the world championships – or whether one or both will be sitting on couches watching from home.
Listening to Ennis-Hill it seemed safe to assume that her participation at next month’s world championships in Beijing was merely a matter of giving the nod to the selectors and getting her visa to China. Her coach, Toni Minichiello, struck a more wary note, warning that she would go only if he was convinced she would get a medal. Meanwhile Johnson-Thompson, while promising it was full-speed ahead for her, also admitted that she had barely trained during the past three weeks because of a quadriceps injury.
Johnson-Thompson’s name will definitely be in the British team when it is announced on Tuesday afternoon. But Ennis-Hill will probably leave the decision about whether to go until Monday morning, hours before British Athletics meets to select its team for Beijing.
Most observers will be surprised that there are major doubts in Minichiello’s mind given how much Ennis-Hill has improved since early May when she made her comeback after the birth of her one-year-old son Reggie. She ran 12.79sec in the 100m hurdles on Friday night, her joint-second fastest time ever, and followed it up on Saturday with 6.37m in the long jump – her best since London 2012 – and 23.49in the 200m. And, as she admitted on Saturday: “I’m incredibly happy with this weekend and it’s exceeding expectations. It’s all going in the right direction and I’m coming into form at the right time.”
When asked about competing in Beijing she stressed that she would have to talk to Minichiello but added: “I definitely feel a lot more positive. I feel the training I’ve done over the past few weeks has made a big difference. I didn’t expect to do as well in the hurdles. I know things can go wrong in the heptathlon but, if I feel I can contend for a silver medal but I come away with a bronze medal, I’d be absolutely ecstatic. But I want to win a medal.”
Minichiello, though, said he would have to sift through tranches of data before making any decision. “For me there is no point in going there finishing fifth, eighth, 20th,” he added. “I wouldn’t go, I’d just train, do some platform work and then move on next year towards Rio, which is the critical thing. We are judging any decision we make in reflection of Rio – it’s about Rio. There’s no British woman who has retained an Olympic title, so that’d be nice.”
Johnson-Thompson, meanwhile, admits that her sights may need to be recalibrated downwards because of her injury. Before, her aim was gold or nothing. Now she would be happy with a place on the podium. “The season’s not been the way I imagined it and I think coming away with a medal would be a great achievement for me,” she said. “Obviously I’m always going for the gold but I’m just glad to be able to compete.”
She added: “I was worried about missing Beijing before this competition but now I’m completely fine. I’ve had five full-out jumps and can’t feel anything so I’m relieved. I’ve got enough time for a solid block of training.” She also dismissed suggestions that she might not go, pointing out that she had similar problems before finishing fifth at the world championships two years ago. “It’s the same preparation I had in Moscow. I went over on my ankle quite early in the season and I got through that and it was the same timetable,” she said.
Even so, there must be some doubt. Last season Johnson-Thompson missed both the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships with a foot injury and she has been troubled by both her knee and her quadriceps this season. If she is 100% fit, she is the favourite in Beijing – but that looks a big if at present.
Ennis-Hill, meanwhile, has an enormous decision to make. In the prestigious Hypo Meeting in Götzis at the end of May she finished fourth with a highly respectable 6,520 points. But she has made galloping strides since and, if she could marry the performances at London’s Olympic Stadium with her best Götzis form in Beijing, she would be confident of a score closer to 6,650, which should be good enough for a medal. For now, though, she is keeping ¬ shtum – even to her friends. After they had competed in the long jump, Johnson-Thompson told her she should go to Beijing. What did Ennis-Hill say back, she was asked. “She just smiled,” was the response.
