Ennis continues hunt for gold

Britain's Jessica Ennis surged ever closer to Olympic gold in the heptathlon with a superb performance in the long jump.

Ennis began day two with a lead of 184 points after personal bests in the 100m hurdles and 200m, and extended her advantage over Lithuania's Austra Skujyte to 258 points this morning.

Ennis has struggled with her run-up this season and managed just 5.95m with her first attempt. However, the 26-year-old then hit the board perfectly on her second to soar out to 6.40m, just 11cm down on her personal best. The was better still to come in the final round as the former world champion leapt out to 6.48m for 1,001 points.

World champion Tatyana Chernova was the only athlete to jump further than Ennis, a leap of 6.54m moving her up from ninth to third and 290 points behind Ennis, but reigning Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska's challenge is over after two fouls and a last aborted attempt of 3.70m dropped her to 33rd.