World Championships 2015: Jessica Ennis-Hill to compete in heptathlon in Beijing as Team GB announced
It will be the first time she has represented Great Britain since the birth of her son Reggie just over a year ago
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Your support makes all the difference.Jessica Ennis-Hill will take part in the heptathlon in next month’s World Championships in Beijing, having been named as one of 62 members of Great Britain’s squad.
It will be the first time she has represented Great Britain since the birth of her son Reggie just over a year ago. But she made herself available for selection after setting three season’s bests at the weekend’s Anniversary Games in the Olympic Stadium, a performance she said was “exceeding expectations”.
The team’s performance director, Neil Black, said: “It will be brilliant just to have here there. That example of professionalism and preparedness and focus – someone who’s experienced, who’s done it before.”
She would, he said, “be competitive for medals,” adding: “She wouldn’t be going if she wasn’t serious. If a medal comes, that will be fantastic. If a gold medal comes, it will be unbelievable, brilliant.”
Katarina Johnson-Thompson will also compete in the heptathlon, as well as the long jump. It is hoped she will challenge Ennis-Hill for a place in the medals, both in Beijing next month and at the Olympics next year in Rio. Another heptathlete, 18-year-old Morgan Lake, will compete in the high jump instead.
Mo Farah will defend the 5,000m and 10,000m double he won in Moscow in 2013, in his first major appearance since his coach Alberto Salazar and his training partner Galen Rupp were accused of doping.
Dina Asher-Smith will stick to her plan to race in the 200m, despite on Saturday becoming the first British woman to run the 100m in under 11 seconds, finishing in 10.99 sec in London’s Olympic Stadium.
“The 200 was the event she was interested in,” Black said. “She hasn’t let the brilliant performance of the weekend influence her. We think the 200 is her best event.”
Andy Vernon, a former European Championship 10,000m silver medalist, said on Twitter he was “really disappointed” to have been left out of the team, adding that “maybe one day someone at British athletics will believe in me”.
Black said Vernon’s “recent form hasn’t demonstrated the level of performance” required to get in the team, and said the decision had nothing to do with a recent lengthy argument with Farah on social media.
Black said the most agonising decision of all had been to leave Martyn Rooney to compete only in the 400m relay, not the individual event, and said the decision to leave sprinters James Dasaolu and Zharnel Hughes out of the relay teams had been because “they haven’t been able to regularly be involved in practices. We made a decision that you have to be available for regular practices to be part of the team.”
Defending champion Christine Ohuruogu will compete in the women’s 400m, while the Olympic champion Greg Rutherford will bid to complete his set of major titles in the men’s long jump.
Great Britain team for World Championships
In Beijing, 23-30 August
MEN
100m J Dasaolu, R Kilty, C Ujah
200m Z Hughes, D Talbot
400m J Dunn, R Yousif
800m K Langford, M Rimmer
1,500m C Grice, C O’Hare
5,000m M Farah, T Farrell
10,000m Farah
110m hurdles L Clarke
400m hurdles N Flannery
High jump R Grabarz
Long jump D Bramble, G Rutherford
Pole vault S Lewis
Hammer M Dry, N Miller
20k walk T Bosworth
4 x 100m Kilty, Ujah, Talbot, H Aikines-Aryeetey, J Ellington, A Gemili
4 x 400m Dunn, Yousif, J Green, M Rooney, C Williams, D Williams.
WOMEN
100m A Philip
200m M Adeoye, D Asher-Smith, B Williams
400m C Ohuruogu, A Onuora
800m J Meadows, S Oskan-Clarke, L Sharp
1,500m L Muir, L Weightman
5,000m S Twell
10,000m K Avery
100m hurdles C Ofili, T Porter
400m hurdles M Beesley, E Child
High jump M Lake, I Pooley
Long jump K Johnson-Thompson, S Proctor, L Ugen
Pole vault H Bradshaw
Hammer S Hitchon
Javelin G Sayers
Heptathlon J Ennis-Hill, Johnson-Thompson
4 x 100m Philip, Asher-Smith, B Williams, L Bloor, D Henry, J Williams, D Neita
4 x 400m Adeoye, Child, Ohuruogu, Onuora, K McAslan, S Bundy-Davies, L Nielson
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