Gold medal hope Jessica Ennis continued the strong British showing in Barcelona with the fastest time in Heptathalon’s 100m hurdles. The Sheffield born hept-athlete clocked a time of 12.95 seconds in the third heat with Jennifer Oeser of Germany second quickest with a time of 13.37 seconds.

The sub 13 second run gave her 1132 points with Oeser on 1070 points.

It wasn’t the smoothest of heats with fellow competitors Tatyana Chernova and Linda Zublin guilty of a false start in the third heat which meant that athlete committing another transgression would be disqualified.

Tatyana Chernova, who has been widely touted as the Briton’s closest rival for Gold looked out of sorts and could only manage a time of 13.73 seconds.

Jessica is the current world heptathlon and world indoor pentathlon champion.

Following her heat Ennis said:

“It felt OK, there was a bit of a headwind, it was a good start, I’d like to have run a bit quicker.”

With the recent virus behind her it appears to have had no affect on her speed, her stamina and strength will be severely tested over the next 48 hours as she aims to add a third title to her belt.