Ennis back in business for Doha

Jessica Ennis yesterday unwrapped the cotton wool and declared herself fit to take on the rest of the world's leading multi-event athletes at the World Indoor Championships, which open in Doha a week today.

The Sheffield athlete who won the heptathlon title at the outdoor World Championships in Berlin last summer has been out of action since breaking the British indoor 60m hurdles record in Glasgow on 30 January but has recovered from a ligament strain in her right foot and is close to full fitness again as she prepares to face Olympic heptathlon medallists Natalya Dobrynska, Hyleas Fountain and Tatyana Chernova in the pentathlon.

"For a week and a half I had to stay off high-impact stuff in training but now I'm back in the swing of things," Ennis said. "Obviously it's not the preparation I had planned. I wanted to compete a little bit more, but sometimes a bit of a rest isn't a bad thing. I don't feel like I've lost any fitness from the way I was performing before. I'd say my fitness is still very high. I'd say it's in the 90s in terms of percentages."