FAN960

TORONTO - Jessica Zelinka was walking off the track Thursday after capturing her fifth Canadian heptathlon title when she looked up into the stands at Varsity Stadium, scanning the crowd for the source of her concern — a crying baby.

The London, Ont., native had just raced to second place in the 800 metres, the final event of the heptathlon, in just her second appearance in the gruelling seven-discipline event since taking a year off to give birth to daughter Anika.

"I was thinking, 'Oh, I hope she's in bed,'" Zelinka said. "I heard a baby screaming and it sounded like her, and I thought, she'd better be in bed already. It's late, it's past her bedtime."

[continued below]

"Your baby is there," her coach Les Gramantik told her, then added with a laugh: "She wasn't happy with your 800."

The 28-year-old Zelinka scored 5,998 points and secured a berth on the Canadian team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games — her score just shy of the 6,000-point goal she'd set for the week and well off her Canadian record of 6,490 she set en route to finishing fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But with their sights set squarely on a medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, she and Gramantik are taking her comeback at their training base in Calgary with the utmost of care. The only other heptathlon she'd completed in the past two years was the prestigious Hypo Meet in Gotzis, Austria, two months ago where she finished 12th.

"Let's face it, 14 or 15 months ago, there was an extra 20 pounds she was carrying around the waist. There are lots of restrictions still in what we can do in training," said Gramantik. "But I like the way we've progressed, her attitude is excellent, I think she's enjoying it, so I'm happy."

Jennifer Cotten of London, Ont., scored 5,491 to win the silver Thursday, while Natasha Miller of Abbotsford, B.C., scored 5,256 to win the bronze. Two-time NCAA champion Brianne Theisen of Saskatoon didn't compete after suffering a suspected stress fracture in her foot.

Jamie Adjetey-Nelson of Windsor, Ont., won the men's decathlon, scoring 7,780. Damian Warner of London, Ont., was second with 7,449, while Patrick Arbour of Ottawa won the bronze with 7,058.

Massimo Bertocchi of Toronto, who was second after Day 1 of the decathlon, pulled out Thursday after he failed to make a height in the pole vault. The 2008 Olympian was competing on an injured hamstring he hurt in Wednesday's 100 metres.

Zelinka knew, when she and husband Nathaniel Miller — a member of Canada's men's water polo team — became parents to Anika, she would be wading into new multi-events territory. She doesn't know of a world-class heptathlete who's come back after having a child.

"In fact, I don't even have any friends who have babies so I can't even get inspiration from that," she said. "This is all fresh and new to me and coming back to training, people were saying, 'How does it feel?' Well, I don't know how it's supposed to feel.

"It's pretty good, obviously it's a balancing act and my energy is totally different. But things are working out so far."

Gramantik said he sought advice from Heike Dreschler's coach — the German long jumper rebounded after giving birth to win gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics — and that he's working closely with several doctors and physiotherapists in Calgary.

"There's not much research in how you come back, so we have to stay on the cautious side" Gramantik said. "There is also an extra outside-of-training stress for a young mother, you have to look after the child, spend time feeding . . . there's no going home after morning practice and going to sleep. Nap is gone."

Her focus has clearly changed. Asked about her goals for this season and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India this October, Zelinka laughed.

"The furthest I think ahead is 24 hours, I think about when the baby needs to eat, when I can take a nap, and training," she said.

Zelinka has set a goal of gold at the Commonwealth Games, and a medal — ideally in the same shade — at the 2012 London Olympics.

"That's the only reason why she came back, to win an Olympic medal," Gramantik said. "It's all there, I think she can improve, I know she can do better, so let's try, let's give it a good chance. And I think she feels a little bit challenged, she has a little bit of a chip on her shoulder, a lot of sponsors left her. . ."

Zelinka won four of seven events over the two-day event to secure her fifth Canadian heptathlon crown — she also won in 2001, '04, '05 and '08. Her weak events were the 200 and 800 as she's been focusing on the more technical disciplines.

Adjetey-Nelson won three of 10 events to capture the decathlon title, cruising to victory in the final event — the 1,500 metres. Bertocchi won four events before he withdrew from the competition.

The 26-year-old Adjetey-Nelson said he would have preferred his rival had remained in the event.

"Any time I compete and Massimo is there, my level is taken up there," Adjetey-Nelson said. "It would have been good for him to finish here and I would love for him to be at the Commonwealth Games with me. Right now both of our scores are medallist scores."