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Devastated Ennis vows to turn silver into gold

Jessica Ennis admitted she was 'absolutely gutted' not to win gold in Turkey © Getty Images

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Jessica Ennis admitted she was distraught to surrender her world indoor pentathlon title to Olympic champion Natallia Dobrynska, but vowed to turn silver into gold at London 2012.

A disappointing long jump display in the penultimate event left Ennis needing to beat Dobrynska by an unlikely six-and-a-half seconds in the 800m, but despite a personal best in the 800m and a national pentathlon record, it was not enough.

Immediately after the final event in Istanbul, the scoreboard showed Ennis in gold medal position, only for Dobrynska to be installed as the champion moments later.

"It was an awful moment," Ennis admitted. "I just ran as hard as I could and I didn't really know the time. Then I looked at the screen, saw my name in first position and suddenly thought 'Oh, I have won' and it was a great feeling and then it was suddenly snatched away."

For the second time in as many major championships, Ennis was forced to settle for silver. Having seen Tatyana Chernova pip her to heptathlon gold last summer, Ennis' British record was not enough as Dobrynska became the first woman to surpass the 5000-point barrier to break Irina Belova's 20-year-old world record.

"I'm absolutely gutted," Ennis said. "But at the same time I'm pleased with a PB and a national record so I can't grumble too much."

However, Ennis refused to be downbeat by the performance and vowed to put the defeat behind her and learn from her mistakes.

"Next week I am going to take a bit of a break," she said. "Then I'll get back into it and work on what I can and come back stronger in the summer. I need to make sure I learn from these experiences, get it right and turn silver into gold this summer.

"I believe things happen for a reason. And hopefully that reason is going to come clear later on in the year."

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