WHEN the drama of the heptathlon was over, and Carolina Kluft had retained her crown as the World champion in Osaka this summer, the Swedish star began rounding up the other 31 women she had spent the last two days competing against Together, they all formed a long line and bowed as one to the crowd at the Nagai Stadium.

Kluft, 24, is a remarkable character. Few sports people show as much thought for their rivals as this Swedish phenomenon who has not lost a multi-events competition for more than five years.

It is an incredible record, including Olympic heptathlon gold in Athens in 2004, double European Championship glory and, now, three successive World titles.

This summer in Japan, she achieved another landmark with the European record with 7,032 points as her dominance saw her win the event by 200 from Lyudmila Blonska with Kelly Sotherton, of Britain, third with 6510.

Yesterday brought her further honours with this award as the Sony Ericsson Overseas Sportswoman of the Year for an athlete

who is always so quick to ensure the spirit of her event remains priority.

As she said: “Without the support from the other girls, and the great competition we had, I would not have been able to do

it. I would like to thank my competitors for pushing me so hard.”

Kluft broke the European record by 25 points, further confirmation of her brilliance at an event which she has transformed

since taking it up after visiting her local track when she was 11.

Within eight years, she was the European Junior heptathlon champion, but away from the heat of the action, she lives as

normal life as possible.

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