Heptathlete Hyleas Fountain competes in the javelin throw during day two of the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials (© Getty Images)
2008 Olympics Heptathlon in Beijing will be the first major championship for a long time without Carolina Klüft. The 25-year-old Swede who has won it all recorded 22 multievent wins in a row (19 heptathlon, 3 indoor pentathlon) before starting a break from the event to concentrate on Long Jump and Triple Jump competitions this season.
Since her first major competition, the 2000 World Junior Championships at the age 17, Klüft won the Olympic title, three World Championships, two European Championships, two World Junior Championships and the European Junior Championships. She also won one World indoor title and two European Indoor Championships.
But Klüft is not there and competition for the gold will be really open. 30-year-old Lyudmyla Blonska (UKR) set a national record 6832 total points winning the silver medal in Osaka, but has been a little off her 2007 form and might not have an easy job winning the Olympic title even with no Klüft in the competition.
27-year-old American Hyleas Fountain is the world leader in Heptathlon this season with a 6667 personal best total points at the Olympic Trials and has real chance of a medal in Beijing. But Fountain is fresh at the top level competition, her only major championships outdoors remains the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki where she finished 12th scoring 6055 points.
The best pick for the gold medal might be very well be an athlete yet to compete in the heptathlon this season. Kelly Sotherton (GBR), who finished with a bronze medal in both Athens Olympics 2004 and Osaka World Championships 2007, has shown very good form in individual events recently and looks to be in best conditions of all right now. The Briton competed at the Aviva London Grand Prix finishing with a big 6.79m personal best in the long jump and has set several personal bests in other events too this season. In Valencia she narrowly lost to Tia Hellebaut (BEL (4867p) at the World Indoor Championships pentathlon following a great 2:09.95 800m performance (4852p) in the last event winning the silver medal there. Sotherton’s recent results are astonishing in the light of what has happened earlier this year. The 31-year-old has suffered kidney failure and several injuries and has still reached a top level form. World Indoor champion Hellebaut has chosen only to compete in the High Jump in Beijing.
Naturally the young Russian team is expected to perform well. 20-year-old Tatyana Chernova is number two on the 2008 world list with 6618p score. Chernova went to Osaka as one of the favourites, but quickly dropped way back off the leaders there. She has not competed in any events since the start of June so her present form is a total question mark. National Champion Olga Kurban is also only 20 years old and has a best of 6559p front that competition in Chelyabinsk in June. 23-year-old Anna Bogdanova has progressed well lately. She finished 10th in Osaka last year, but was already up to a bronze medal finish at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia this winter. Bogdanova scored her personal best 6452p while finished third in Götzis and has also not competed since.
One more notable athlete who is not going to compete in Beijing is Jessica Ennis (GBR), who placed fourth in Osaka, she was injured during the Hypo-meeting in Götzis earlier this summer.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
