Lewis backs Ennis for gold joy

Denise Lewis is backing Jessica Ennis for gold at London 2012 - but feels Katarina Johnson-Thompson can also make her mark.

Ennis is undoubtedly one of Great Britain's best gold medal hopes in athletics this summer and heads towards the Games in fine form having smashed Lewis' national record last month on her way to an impressive victory in Gotzis.

The 2009 world champion headed into the season knowing she needed to raise the bar after failing to retain her crown last year and also missing out on indoor glory this winter - and she duly delivered with an awesome score of 6,906 points.

Lewis' previous mark of 6,831 stood since 2000 - the year she clinched Olympic gold in Sydney - and Ennis now has even more weight on her shoulders to win the biggest prize of all in London.

"We should never put gold medals round peoples' neck because sport is unpredictable and there's a lot of pressure at the Olympic Games," said Lewis. "Pressure can mount and people can trip up. It only takes one event to go badly in the heptathlon and it's all over. It's not smart to hang a gold round her neck but the form which the likes of Jess Ennis and Mo Farah have shown in the past two seasons shows they are definitely in the frame.

"Naturally this means are expectations are for them to win and they certainly can do it.

"If I was going into a home Olympics I'd absolutely want to be under the radar. It's easier to have that quiet preparation and not have all the focus on you.

"Jess seems to be coping well but she's not the only ones under pressure. There's also high expectations on Mo Farah and there's plenty of people in other sports such as cycling, swimming, rowing and sailing who are under pressure to win the gold medals.

"We've got a lot of household names who 60 million people will be getting behind and hoping they do well."

Lewis was always waiting for Ennis to break the British record but doesn't expect the Sheffield athlete to hold onto it for quite as long as she did if Johnson-Thompson can live up to her rich potential in years to come.

The 19-year-old from Liverpool, who won the 2009 world youth title, set a huge personal best of 6,248 at the recent World Combined Events Challenge in Czech Republic to book her place on the team.

Lewis said: "My record was there long enough really and Jess has had the ability to break it for the last three years. I couldn't have wished for a nicer person to have taken over the record and hopefully she'll inspire Katarina to aim at it in years to come.

"I haven't seen her compete in the flesh but I've known about her for the last couple of years. She's a lovely rangy athlete, a very good high jumper and has very good speed which is obviously a bonus in heptathlon. She's certainly a name we've got to get used to hearing.

"Katarina will get the opportunity to compete in London and hopefully four years from now she will have her moment to shine. It's all about stepping stones. Every athlete needs to have a focus.

"The Olympics was probably always a possibility for her this year and now she'll realise that.

"We talk about having Games experience which holds you in good stead for the future so this can only be a great thing for Katarina. Hopefully she'll go from strength to strength."