Ennis sets scorching pace

Britain's Jessica Ennis is ecstatic after clocking the fastest ever time in the women's heptathlon 100m hurdles heats during the London Olympics yesterday.Photo: AFP

British title hope Jessica Ennis, a poster girl for the London Olympics, clocked the fastest ever time for a heptathlete in the 100m hurdles on the opening day of athletics on Friday.
Ennis, the current world silver medallist, beat her personal best by 0.25sec as she set a new British record of 12.54sec in brilliant sunshine in front of an 80,000-capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium.
To put her time into perspective, it was faster than American Kellie Wells' victory in the 100m hurdles at last month's London Diamond League, in which the event's world champion Sally Pearson was beaten into second place.
It also matched American Dawn Harper's winning time in the individual hurdles at the Beijing Games in 2008.
"I'm still in shock from the hurdles, to be honest," Ennis said. "I can't believe I ran that time. It was a great start.
"I just felt ready. I'd done all the hard work in the training, and hurdles has been going well so I knew I was in shape to run a good time but didn't quite think I'd run that quick."
It was the perfect start in the gruelling seven-discipline event for Ennis, who cleared 1.86m in the high jump for 2,249 points after the first two events, with the shot put and 200m to come later in the day.