World Championships: Ennis-Hill leads, Johnson-Thompson second

Britain's Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill leads the World Championship heptathlon after day one ahead of compatriot Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Ennis-Hill described herself as "really, really happy" following strong performances in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m in Beijing.

A total of 4,005 points left Ennis-Hill 80 points clear with the long jump, javelin and 800m to come on Sunday.

Johnson-Thompson moved up from ninth to second after an impressive 200m.

"Kat's doing amazing, she's doing personal bests, so it's definitely going to be a battle and hopefully we'll get a couple of medals," added Ennis-Hill.

Nadine Visser of the Netherlands is third on 3,871 points, ahead of Canada's Brianne Theisen-Eaton, the world number one, in fourth on 3,865.

The heptathlon resumes at 02:00 BST on Sunday with the long jump, followed by the javelin at 05:05 and the 800m, the final event, at 12:40.

Ennis-Hill and Johnson-Thompson are going head to head for the first time since London 2012

Ennis-Hill relishing return

The 29-year-old, competing at a major championships for the first time since London 2012, made a superb start in her bid to regain the world title 13 months after giving birth to son Reggie.

After a solid 12.91 seconds in the 100m hurdles, Ennis-Hill matched her season's best with 1.86m in the high jump, threw 13.73m in the shot put and finished second behind Johnson-Thompson with 23.42 seconds in the 200m.

"I am pleased," Ennis-Hill told BBC Sport. "I had that feeling of slight disappointment because I'm always comparing myself to my best, but I'm really pleased with the scores I have.

"I had some solid events, I feel there's a lot more to come, which is frustrating, but generally really, really happy."

Johnson-Thompson back from the brink

The 22-year-old from Liverpool flirted with disaster in the day's second event, the high jump, needing three attempts to get over her opening height of 1.80m, having hit the uprights with her head on her second attempt.

A third failure would have ended her medal hopes but she survived and, eventually, prospered.

Johnson-Thompson had opened with a personal best of 13.37secs in the 100m hurdles, but another best of 12.47m in the shot was not enough to stop her slipping to ninth overall.

A dominant 23.08 seconds in her first 200m of the season got her back on track, however, and put her on course for a medal.

"It's been a good day one for me," said Johnson-Thompson. "The high jump was a bit nerve wracking. I had a bit of a faulty run-up so I'm happy that didn't all end in tears."

Teenager takes marathon gold

Nineteen-year-old Eritrean Ghirmay Ghebreslassie won the men's marathon in two hours 12 minutes 27 seconds, stretching away from Ethiopia's Yemane Tsegay in the final mile with Uganda's Solomon Mutai taking bronze.

Defending champion Stephen Kiprotich came in sixth, while world record holder Dennis Kimetto and double London Marathon winner Wilson Kipsang both dropped out at 30km.

In the absence of New Zealand's four-time world champion Valerie Adams, Germany's Christina Schwanitz claimed victory in the women's shot put, a best of 20.37m trumping early leader and home hope Gong Lijiao.

The Chinese thrower sealed silver this time around with 20.30m, American Michelle Carter taking bronze (19.76).

How did the other Britons get on?

Britain's Laura Weightman and Laura Muir qualified comfortably from the heats of the 1500m, although Weightman suffered a nasty fall having crossed the line.

Weightman cut her face in the fall, but the 24-year-old from Northumberland later tweeted: "Had a close encounter with the track this morning. Good job I'm a northern girl and survived. Thanks for everyone's messages. Semi-final next!"

Nick Miller's first-round throw of 77.42m, less than a metre down on his own British record, saw him qualify for the hammer final, but Michael Rimmer and his young compatriot Kyle Langford went out in the first round of the 800m.

And in the field Steve Lewis went out of the pole vault competition with a best clearance of 5.40m.