London: England`s Louise Hazel announced Wednesday she was coming out of retirement in a bid to defend her Commonwealth Games heptathlon title in Glasgow later this year.
The 28-year-old, who won gold in Delhi in 2010 after compatriot and Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill opted out of travelling to India, only announced her retirement from the seven-event discipline in September.
However, Hazel said she`d been encouraged by the results of recent fitness tests, telling the BBC: "I`m in better shape than I thought I was in. I`m really excited and I can`t wait to get started.
"I was really pleasantly surprised by my tests. It`s a thumbs-up for Glasgow, if I`m selected. I also have to chat to Commonwealth Games England to discuss the selection process and to see what hurdles have to be overcome.
"I wouldn`t be doing this if I didn`t think I could successfully defend my Commonwealth crown -- I`m definitely targeting the podium."
Hazel could only finish 27th at the 2012 London Olympics, with Ennis-Hill taking gold and fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson 15th.
Ennis-Hill will not compete in Glasgow because she is pregnant.
Meanwhile Hazel is likely to have mend some fences with her national governing body if she wants to compete in Scotland, having last year labelled England Athletics` selection policy for Glasgow as "elitism gone mad".
Hazel`s point then was that unduly harsh qualifying standards would deny young athletes valuable competition experience ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
"If you look at the heptathlon, you need around 300 more points to hit the standards for Glasgow compared to that for Delhi," Hazel said at the time.
AFP
First Published: Thursday, January 30, 2014, 14:06
