Fit-again Ennis ready for Euros

European Athletics Championships 2010
Venue: Barcelona Dates: 27 July - 1 August
Coverage: Watch live on BBC HD, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Sport website (UK users only); Live coverage on BBC Radio 5 live; Full highlights on iPlayer and highlights of the biggest events on demand online (UK only) Full details

Ennis braced for pressure as favourite

By Tom Fordyce BBC Sport in Barcelona

If Jess Ennis succeeds in adding the European heptathlon title to her World crown this week, she will have an unusual technique to thank.

Rather than the Fosbury Flop or shot put glide, Ennis's bid for gold may have been saved by something called the Epley Manoeuvre.

Last month, struck down by a virus of the inner ear, Ennis found herself so dizzy she felt constantly sick and was unable to train.

"I'd had it before, but it was horrible because it really came out of nowhere," said Ennis, ahead of the start of the heptathlon on Friday.

"I was in Leeds and felt a bit faint, but I just thought I was a bit dehydrated, but when I got home I had a really bad spinning episode.

"I couldn't actually stand up or move my head from side to side without feeling really dizzy and being sick. It was horrible. All I could think about was not being dizzy.

"It was a virus that affects your inner ear, which is what controls your balance. It knocks your balance right off - it's just like having vertigo, when you constantly feel like you're spinning."

"I'd love to get a record, but I'm trying not to get too fixated on it Jessica Ennis

With her European Championship hopes in the balance, Ennis was sent to see a specialist. It was there that Dr John Epley and his eponymous manoeuvre first came up.

"They said I could either take some tablets which would help with the balance and take about three weeks, or we can do this procedure which involved all these weird things. I didn't want to take the tablets because of the side-effects - headaches and feeling sick - so we agreed to try it.

"It was a bizarre experience. I had to lie on my back, and then they moved by head side to side really fast. It kick-started my balance mechanisms and did the trick almost straight away."

Ennis will begin the heptathlon on Friday morning as clear favourite for gold. She destroyed her main rivals in the Hypo meeting in Gotzis earlier this summer and says she is not fazed by the weight of expectation.

"People expected it at the Worlds last year, to be honest, because I was ranked number one going into it and had had such a good year up to that point.

"People thought it was in the bag then, so I've kind of dealt with that pressure already. I'm hoping I can use that experience again.

"Of course I get nervous - so nervous! Every championships is the same, but if I wasn't nervous I'd be quite concerned. I really want to perform well, and there is some expectation and pressure.

"It's hardest to sleep a couple of days before it starts, because the competition is sort of there but not there.

"The night before is nerve-wracking, and the night in between you're so tired that you don't have the chance to be nervous - you just want to go to sleep, and before you know it it's morning."

606: DEBATE Will Ennis add a European title to her World title?

Ennis will be competing in the same Olympic Stadium where the great Jackie Joyner-Kersee won the second of her two Olympic heptathlon titles.

Joyner-Kersee still holds the world record for the event, set 22 years ago, but Ennis insists her focus is on her own events rather than Joyner-Kersee's mark - or the British record that belongs to Denise Lewis.

"I don't really remember the 1992 [Barcelona] Games - I think I was messing about in a different sort of sandpit back then," says the 24-year-old.

"I'd love to get a record, but I'm trying not to get too fixated on it. I want to make sure I get all the parts right, and then hopefully the record will take care of itself.

"I'll be keeping one eye on how the other girls are doing during competition, of what Dobrynska and Chernova are doing, but essentially I have to focus on what I'm doing, making sure I execute what I'm meant to be doing and get the most out of each event."

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