Ennis-Hill returns ahead of Rio Games

Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill finally began her preparations for the Rio Games by taking part in a javelin event on Sunday. Ennis-Hill was competing for the first time since winning gold at last year's World Championships in Beijing after an Achilles problem ruled her out of the indoor season. The 30-year-old recorded a best throw of 41.69 metres at the Loughborough International Athletics match. That she finished last in the eight-strong field was of little significance given the discipline is one of her weakest, but the distance was well down on her personal best of 48.33m. Her best throw last year was 43.88m, also recorded in Loughborough last May. Ennis-Hill's return came nine months since her last competition and only 12 weeks until the her Olympic heptathlon title defence gets under way in Rio. The injury-hampered preparation for the season has already forced Ennis-Hill to miss next weekend's prestigious heptathlon at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis and left her playing catch-up if she is to return to top form in time for Rio, for which she has already qualified. Speaking after competing in Loughborough, she said on Sky Sports News: "My Achilles actually feels really good and the work that I've done with the medical team and the rehab and just making sure we get it right has really worked."