Sheffield’s Jess Ennis is expected to lead the medal charge when she captains Great Britain’s 72-strong squad at this month’s European Athletics Championships.

City golden girl Jess, who trains at the English Institute of Sport, will be looking to add the European heptathlon crown to her world outdoor and indoor title.

Jess, who is considered Britain’s best chance of gold in Barcelona, said: “I am really honoured to have been asked to captain the team and hope I will be able to offer advice and encouragement to everyone.

“My team talk will be very short, but geared towards encouraging everyone to give it their all- if we all go out there and do our best we should have some great results.”

World triple jump champion Phillips Idowu is another expected to shine. In addition, world indoor 60m champion Dwain Chambers, world indoor and outdoor 800m medallist Jenny Meadows, Mo Farah, the European indoor 3000m champion, and world 1500m silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey will also challenge for the podium.

The start of the European Championships coincides with the milestone of two years to the 2012 Games in London, which will be celebrated by the scores of other elite athletes who are training at EIS Sheffield ahead of the Olympics.

Paul Hudson, general manager of EIS Sheffield, which is operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), said: “We are really proud that Jess has been selected as captain and we are sure she will lead by example. She has produced some outstanding form in recent months and we wish her the best of luck.”