THE golden girl of British athletics had a mixed afternoon at the Aviva British Grand Prix in her attempts to recapture her sharpness ahead of the European Championships.

Jessica Ennis, captain of team GB and NI, heads for a training camp this week with the rest of the squad to put final preparations ahead of the Barcelona showpiece, which starts on July 27.

But the 24-year-old was left in no doubt that she has work to do before the Euros, having been forced to miss out on the trials a fortnight ago through illness.

While Ennis might not have missed too much action, the virus has left her weakened.

At Gateshead, the world No 1 heptathlete, competing in individual events against some of the world’s best athletes, never expected to push for the medals. She did, though, want to put on a show.

After finishing last in the 200m in a time of 23.55sec, over two-tenths of a second down on her best performance of the year, she did bring a smile back to her face with a season’s best 46.15m in the javelin.

“I’ve missed a bit of work and I need to catch up a bit, so it was good to just come and run here and see where I am at,” said the Sheffield star.

“It’s going to take a little bit just to get some shape back but by the time I get to Barcelona I should be ready to go.

“I was disappointed with my 200m but pleased with my javelin. I’m feeling fit and healthy but I just need to get a bit more work done.

“It was nerve-racking against some of the girls in the javelin.

Competing against the world class athletes in individual events is different.”