Rio Olympics injury scare for Sheffield's Jessica Ennis-Hill

The reigning Olympic and world heptathlon champion has avoided putting a time-scale on her recovery from the injury, but is confident she will be able to enjoy a full outdoor season in the run up to competing in Rio.

Ennis-Hill insists she can make her comeback at the Hypo meeting in Gotzis in late May as she looks to enjoy a successful build up to the Games, which get underway on August 5.

Asked if her injury could affect the defence of her Olympic title, she said: “At this stage I’m hoping that’s not the case. We’re still in February, there’s a lot of time before the Olympics.

“I’ll be going away and sitting with the medical team to go through everything. Hopefully it won’t impact on my summer.”

The 30-year-old has been plagued by Achilles injuries throughout her illustrious career, but admitted a rest from both training and competition leading up to Rio could be her one-way ticket to clinching a second Olympic gold medal.

“I know the warning signs with the Achilles now, I know when it’s starting to stiffen up and when it’s becoming sore that there’s potentially a problem there,” continued Ennis-Hill.

“We need to work out how long I need for rest and recovery but I very much want to have a full season, starting in Gotzis, and starting the season as originally planned.

“As an athlete it’s so frustrating to get injuries at any time of the year, but we are still in February so maybe a little bit of rest is not a bad thing and if we can get this sorted hopefully that will stand me in good stead.”