• World Athletics Championships

Gold slipping out of Ennis' grasp

ESPN staff
August 30, 2011
Jessica Ennis is in the silver medal position © PA Photos
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Jessica Ennis' hopes of defending her world heptathlon title is slipping from her grasp after a poor javelin round left her in silver medal position at the World Athletics Championships.

Ennis, bidding to become the first Briton to successfully defend a world title, was in pole position after the first day of competition, and a personal best of 6.51m in the long jump kept her on top although Russian rival Tatyana Chernova closed the gap with a leap of 6.61m.

But when Chernova produced a season's best of 52.95m in the second round of the javelin, Ennis was unable to respond and could only manage 39.95m, more than six metres short of her lifetime best.

Ennis trails Chernova by 133 points with one event remaining, meaning the Brit will have to beat the Russian by at least nine seconds in the 800m.

Helen Clitheroe sealed her place in the final of the women's 5000m as a fastest loser after finishing eighth in her heat in a time of 15 minutes, 37.73 seconds. Tom Parsons and Martyn Bernard failed to reach the final of the men's high jump, while James Shane missed out on a place in the 1500m final by just nine one-hundredths of a second.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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