Jessica Ennis-Hill in the heptathlon javelin at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 (© Getty Images)
When Jessica Ennis-Hill last appeared at a World Championships, she fell out of gold medal contention during the javelin. Here, she did exactly what she needed to do in that event to remain on course to win her second world title.
The 29-year-old threw 42.51m in the first round, which remained her best mark of the competition. The Briton now leads the competition with 5706 points. Based on her 800m form this year, having clocked 2:09.21 in Gotzis, the gold medal now looks a certainty for the Olympic champion as there are rarely any disasters in the final event.
Ennis-Hill is 86 points ahead of Nadine Broersen who, as expected, passed many athletes in the javelin and is now in second place with 5620 points after six events. The world indoor champion threw 53.57m, just eight centimetres off her season’s best, but Ennis-Hill is now out of reach.
The 25-year-old took silver at the European Championships last year, but is yet to win a global outdoor medal.
World leader Brianne Theisen-Eaton is in third place going into the final event. The Canadian managed 42.94m to bring her tally to 5612 after six events. She would need to beat Ennis by 6.49 seconds in the 800m to take gold, but they are evenly matched in that event so it seems more likely that Theisen-Eaton is set to take a second successive silver medal.
To move up a place into second, she would need to beat Broersen by 0.55 seconds, which appears doable. But, as the heptathlon in 2013 showed, anything can happen in the final event.
These aren’t the only athletes in medal contention. Just six points behind Theisen-Eaton, in fourth place, is Laura Ikauniece-Adminina. The Latvian threw a season’s best of 53.57m in the javelin and missed her personal best by only 16 centimetres. If she runs a good 800m and finishes ahead of Broersen, the 2012 European silver medallist could make it on to the podium.
Nafissatou Thiam is fifth with 5535 points after a good 49.31m javelin throw, but she often struggles in the 800m. Eighth-placed Gyorgyi Zsivoczky-Farkas, meanwhile, threw 49.30m in the javelin and is a good 800m runner, so could make up a few places in the final event.
Behind the Hungarian in ninth place is the best 800m runner in the field. Claudia Rath threw 41.31 in the javelin and has an 800m personal best of 2:06.43 from Moscow two years ago where she finished fourth.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
