Carolina Kluft, the world's finest allround female athlete of her generation, puts her remarkable unbeaten streak on the line in Osaka. Kluft, at 24 years old, hopes to extend her winning streak to 22 multi-event competitions and make further history by becoming the first woman to win the Heptathlon at three successive World Championships.
The Swede warmed up for Osaka with a fifth successive win in the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis in late May, where she scored 6,681 points.
However, Kluft's monopoly faces a strong challenge from eastern Europe. The 2007 world lists are led by Lyudmyla Blonska (UKR), who set a personal best of 6626 behind Kluft in Gotzis and bettered that mark with a total of 6733 to win the Ukraine Cup earlier this month.
Teenaged Russian Tatyana Chernova put together an even better score with 6768 for victory at June's IAAF Multi Events Challenge in Arles. The 19-year-old's performance may have been wind-assisted but it was a massive improvement on her 2006 best of 6227, when taking the World Junior title in Beijing.
Another athlete representing the younger generation is 21-year-old Briton Jessica Ennis, who stands third in the world lists following her 6399 points haul at the European Cup in Poland. If Ennis can produce an improved javelin performance - her weakest event - then the medal podium is a possibility. Her Great Britain team-mate Kelly Sotherton took Olympic bronze in 2004, but like Ennis, a weak javelin may count against her.
German duo Jennifer Oeser (6366 for third in Gotzis) and European bronze medallist Lilli Schwarzkopf may also threaten. Olympic silver medallist Austra Skujyte (LTU) boasts a season's best of 6337 and will be a factor as will European silver medallist Karin Ruckstuhl (NED).
Osaka 2007 News Team
