• Athletics

Ennis: 7000-point mark can fill Olympic void

ESPN staff
December 12, 2012
Jessica Ennis believes there is room for improvement in her high jump © PA Photos
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Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis has set her sights on breaking the fabled 7000-point barrier in 2013.

Ennis fell agonisingly short of the milestone when she won gold in the Olympic Stadium with 6955 points.

Ennis is currently fifth in the all-time list behind joint world record-holders Jackie Joyner-Kersee of the United States and Sweden's Carolina Kluft (7032) and Russian Larisa Turchinskaya (7007).

The Sheffield-based athlete has admitted she has found it hard to return to training after the euphoria of London 2012, but a new target will serve as motivation for her over the winter.

Ennis believes she can add a few more centimetres to her long jump and high jump disciplines, but admits she may need a little bit of luck if she is to better her own British record.

"I'm looking at 7000 points," Ennis told The Times. "Only three women have done that and only one, Carolina Kluft, in the past 20 years.

"I'm not saying I'm going to do it because I have to reproduce what I did in London, and not in that environment, and then add some more points. But I need to have a higher target to push myself. I know there is room in the long jump and the high jump. It's something to work towards."

Ennis, who is likely to miss the indoor season as she prepares to marry fiancé Andy Hill in May, admits she, like many other members of Team GB, suffered from post-Olympic blues.

"Every athlete that I have spoken to since the Olympics has said the same thing - it's hard," she said. "There was such a build-up. Nobody thought about what was going to happen after. It was kind of like the world was going to end."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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