Jessica Ennis-Hill to continue comeback at this weekend’s Loughborough International, while Heather Watson safely into second round of Italian Open. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill intends to have a clearer picture of her form by the end of this weekend after confirming her entry for the Loughborough International Athletics meeting.
Ennis-Hill, who returned to competitive action for the first time in two years when she finished third in the 100m hurdles on Saturday, will take part in the long jump and javelin.
"I am really looking forward to competing in the Loughborough International - it is always a good meet for me at the start of the season," said Ennis-Hill, who is building towards a possible outing at the Gotzis Hypo-Meeting at the end of the month.
"I was happy with my run over the hurdles last Saturday in Manchester and the chance to compete in the long jump and javelin a week later will give us a really clear picture of how things are shaping up."
Heather Watson's preparations for this month's French Open continue as she reached the second round of the Italian Open.
The world number 41, who went out in the first round of the Madrid Open earlier this month, beat Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-1.
She will next face Carla Suarez Navarro or Mona Barthel.
Jakob Hoi believes the hard work paid off for Chris and Gabby Adcock whose victory over their Indonesian rivals was the silver lining as England exited the Sudirman Cup in China.
After a 4-1 defeat to Denmark, England were up against it and couldn’t get the better of Indonesia – eventually going down 3-2.
The Adcocks were on song however as they ran out 21-17 21-18 winners against Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir to gain valuable qualification points on the road to Rio.
"They've worked hard for this in their training," admitted Hoi. "It's great they got the scalp, but also a bonus point for the world rankings."
Finn star Ed Wright is determined to use past experiences to spur him on when racing gets underway at this year’s Sailing European Championships in Split, Croatia on Tuesday.
The world number one has five European Championship medals to his name in the men’s heavyweight class, including a gold from 2006.
His most recent medal came last year when he finished third in La Rochelle with fellow Brit Giles Scott, absent this year in favour of a training trip to Rio, taking the title ahead of Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar.
“Not long ago, in 2010 we had the Europeans here, where it was a head to head with Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic in the medal race,” recalled Wright . “This time I will do my best to come out on top.”
Olympic champions Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford are among a host of big names that will head to the Midlands in June for the Birmingham Grand Prix.
The men’s 100m race is set to take centre stage with World and European indoor champion Richard Kilty going up against Adam Gemili and CJ Ujah, who last season ran sub-ten seconds.
There is also an impressive line-up in the women’s events with Christine Ohuruogu taking rising star Seren Bundy-Davies in the 400m.
Jade Jones admits she is chasing a dream as she looks to add the world championship title to her Olympic gold.
Jones has been in fine form this year but knows anything can happen when the competition kicks off in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on May 12.
“It’s going to be amazing if I can win the World Championships. To be known as both world and Olympic champion would be just a dream come true,” she said. Read more here.
Keri-Anne Payne will lead the British charge for open water medals at this summer’s World Championships in Kazan after being named as part of the marathon swimming team.
The Olympic silver medallist from Beijing 2008 has a fine track record at the World Championships after taking 10km gold in 2009 and 2011.
British Swimming open water lead Bernie Dietzig said: “We purposely chose the toughest competitions for selection and the athletes we have selected have delivered under pressure and at the highest level of racing." Read more here.
British Triathlon performance director Brendan Purcell insists the importance of the Rio test event is not lost on him after naming the 11 athletes that will take part on August 1-2.
Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee were assured of places in the men’s race by virtue of their international medal winning success, whilst Non Stanford, Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland and Jodie Stimpson have earned their places on the women’s start list.
Purcell said: “The test event in Rio is the first of two assessment races this year that offer the opportunity to gain automatic nomination to the British Olympic Association for Rio 2016 selection.
“Athletes winning a medal in Rio, and at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Chicago will be automatically put forward for selection." Read more here.
© Sportsbeat 2015