Jessica Ennis made a point as the outdoor season started in earnest at Loughborough yesterday with a javelin throw that suggested that she may overhaul Kelly Sotherton and become Britain's best bet for a heptathlon gold medal in Beijing.

Such billing is premature but Ennis, at 22, is so far ahead of schedule that tentative optimism is well-founded. Like Sotherton, Ennis finds the javelin does not come naturally, but she has added four metres to her personal best since last year's World Championships and is brimming with cautious confidence. “I'm expecting the pressure but I try to block it out and not dwell on other people's expectations,” she said.

There are still flaws in the heptathlete's arsenal. Her shot and long jump need work, but with Carolina Klüft opting out of the Olympic heptathlon, the improvement in the javelin is significant. Before this year her best was 38.07 metres but she is now consistently breaking the 40-metres barrier and set a personal best of 43.08 metres at the Loughborough International yesterday, putting it down to hard graft with her coach, Mick Hill.

Ennis also won the long jump with a leap of 6.30 metres and the 100metres hurdles in 13.72sec.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey won his 100metres in a modest time of 10.48sec before tweaking his hamstring in the relay, but the 19-year-old has already put down a marker this month, running 10.18sec in his first 100metres since 2006. One of the most notable performances came from Martyn Rooney, who achieved the Olympic qualifying time by running 45.46sec in the 400 metres on his home track.

Jo Pavey won the BUPA Great Manchester Run, fending off the likes of Catherine Ndereba, the world marathon champion, and Derartu Tulu, the Olympic 10,000metres champion, to win in 31min 56sec.