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Athletics

Ankle injury forces Ennis out of Beijing Games

02/06/2008

UK Athletics has confirmed that heptathlete Jessica Ennis will not be competing in the Beijing Olympics after suffering a stress fracture to her ankle.

The 22-year-old was widely expected to take home a medal from this year's games having already recorded personal bests in both the shot and javelin this season in addition to finishing fourth at the 2007 World Championships in Japan.

However, her chances of making it to China were ended at the weekend after she was forced to pull out of an IAAF meet, with a scan confirming that her ankle will not have repaired in time for her to compete against the best in the world.

Commenting on the bad news, Ennis stated: "I'm obviously upset with the results and I'm gutted to be missing out on my first Olympics

She added, however: "Injury is part of a heptathlete's life - I'm determined to make a recovery."

The announcement represents the latest in a series of injury blows which have dashed British hopes of bring back a horde of medals from Beijing.

Already Mark Lewis-Francis has been ruled out of the Games due to an Achilles problem, while long-distance runner Paula Radcliffe and 400m specialist Nicola Sanders are both doubtful, with a thigh and knee injuries respectively.