Jessica Ennis-Hill confident in her ability ahead of Olympic Games heptathlon

By Charlotte Bates

Image: Jessica Ennis-Hill is confident in her ability ahead of Rio Olympic Games 2016

Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill is feeling positive ahead of the defence of her title in Rio after returning from an Achilles injury at the weekend.

The 30-year-old made her first competitive appearance of the season at the Loughborough International on Sunday.

She competed in the javelin but was disappointed at finishing eighth with a throw of 41.68m, which compares with a personal best of 48.33m.

"I'm a little bit disappointed with my throw," Ennis-Hill told Sky Sports News HQ during Sportswomen. "It's the first competition of the year, I've got to build on it and make progress and on to Rio."

Image: Ennis-Hill claimed Heptathlon gold at London 2012

Ennis-Hill is making a comeback from an Achilles problem that forced her to rest during the winter season and miss the World Indoor Championships in March.

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"My Achilles actually feels really good. The work I've done with the medical team, the rehab and just making sure we got it really right has worked," she added.

"Touch wood I'm hopefully getting over this injury. I can start training fully and preparing to compete again."

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The world heptathlon champion will not compete in the high-profile heptathlon at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis this weekend but is fully focused on her preparations for Rio.

Image: Ennis-Hill won her second world title in Beijing just three months after returning to training following the birth of her son in 2014

"I'm still kind of a bit behind where I wanted to be. I was hoping to compete in a heptathlon at the weekend, but I'm not quite ready," Ennis-Hill said.

"This was really to come out and see how the javelin is going and just do one event and not push myself too much. To go away and get some more training done and hopefully compete again soon.

"I've got a great team around me. I've got the experience of doing major championships and Olympics before. It's just about taking that believe and doing what I know I'm capable of doing."

Ennis-Hill has already secured her position for this years summer Olympic Games, but fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson is yet to quality and will attempt to do so in Gotzis.

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