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Ennis and Whyte look ahead

It has been suggested the 26-year-old Briton Jessica Ennis, who won gold at the London Olympics, may turn her attentions to the 100m hurdles. "I sat down with her before she went away and we had a discussion about the future," her coach, Tony Minichiello, told BBC Radio Sheffield. "I see no reason why she can't carry on with the heptathlon until Rio 2016 because she's not had many injuries."He added: "She's got a good team around her and it's important we keep that team together. I think she'll definitely be in the heptathlon for the next four years." Ennis produced one of the performances of the Games to take the Olympic title with 6,955 points, over 300 more than her nearest rival. On her way to gold, the Sheffield athlete recorded a personal best of 12.54 seconds in the hurdles, the quickest time ever run by a heptathlete. She then had the option of running in the event proper once her heptathlon commitments were over but elected not to compete. Minichiello believes there are still a number of goals for Ennis to achieve, among them winning World Championship gold again, having finished second to the Russian Tatyana Chernova in Daegu last year, and topping 7,000 points for the heptathlon. "We have to find different targets but motivation comes from within," he continued. "I think that 7,000 points is something she'll want and she's never won a Commonwealth Games. Plus there's the World Championships in Moscow next year.

After failing to win an individual medal in the Women's 400 metres event at the Olympic Games, Rosemarie Whyte set her mind on finishing the season strongly and was rewarded with her first Diamond League victory and a season's best. Whyte, one of two Jamaicans to make the Olympic final in London, finished in last position in 50.79 seconds, but after a two-week rest, she improved to win at the IAAF Diamond League in Birmingham, then closed the season with a season's best 50.08 in Zegreb, Croatia earlier this month. In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Whyte, who won a bronze medal as part of the 4x400m relay team, said she was pleased with her season overall as she had achieved most of her goals. Whyte said after finishing outside of the medal frame in London, "I just set my mind to finish the season fast, and that's what I did". She added that while the rest after the Olympics was good, "I wasn't tired at all".After her off-season rest, Whyte said she is setting her sights on a place on the team to the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia next August, where she hopes to make it to the podium for the first time in an individual event at a global championships.