Sweden's Carolina Kluft stretched her five-year unbeaten streak in the heptathlon by adding an unprecedented third straight World Athletics Championship title. She also took the European record, previously held by Russian Nikitina Larisa with 7,007 points, ending the day on 7,032.

Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska took silver with 6,832, while Britain's Kelly Sotherton finished in third on 6,510 after a personal best 6.68 metres in the long jump. Another disappointing effort in the javelin meant that she went into the 800m in fourth place, behind Lithuania's Austra Skujyte.

However, she ran excellently to finish second in the competition's final event and claim Britain's first medal of the championships, ahead of team-mate Jessica Ennis in fourth.

Sotherton was effusive in her praise for the up-and-coming Ennis, whose haul of 6,469 points was a personal best, saying: "She's the future. You'd better watch out!"

She was also proud of her own performance, adding: "I would be happier if I had thrown 40m in the javelin, but I am pleased that my poor javelin did not let me down and I proved everybody wrong because I think they expected somebody else to win a bronze medal.

"I have proved I can win a World Championship medal because this may be my last heptathlon at a World Championships and I am pleased that I have proved to myself that I have the ability to win a medal at this level.

"I had a fantastic long jump today, I held my nerve after a no-jump to get a 6.68 and then the 800 was a lot harder than I thought, I expected to run faster but if it wasn't for Jess in that last 100m I probably would have wilted back another 100m.

"It has been the toughest heptathlon and probably the most emotional because I have worked hard for this. In Athens Skujyte beat me by seven points, I had to beat her by four seconds and I only did it by three and a half so I wasn't going to let that happen again. I am always confident that if I have a chance going into the 800 I will have a chance of a medal."

Ennis was delighted to cap off a stunning season for the Sheffield woman with a fourth place, but admitted it could have been a lot more had the 21-year-old not produced a disastrous 11.93m in the shot putt on the opening day.

The setback, combined with an equally disappointing javelin, left Ennis with too much to do in the 800m, but she still flew round the Nagai Stadium track to increase her personal best.

"It's amazing, I am really pleased. I knew I had to run hard in the 800 and it got me a personal best which is great. It's been an amazing season, I can't really put it into words," she said.

"I'm still regretting the shot putt, if I had thrown near to my PB then it would have put me in a mix for a medal but it's the way it happens in championships. But I honestly did not think I would finish fourth this year, I had such a good year last season and to come out and do better this year has just been great."

In the 400m, Christine Ohuruogu clocked a season's best time of 50.46 seconds to ease into the semi-finals. The Commonwealth Games champion looks in good shape after a 12-month ban for missing three out-of-competition drug tests.

The 23-year-old made a blistering return earlier this week when she set the fastest time by a British runner this year in a pre-championships warm-up race.

She then proved she remains one of Britain's strongest hopes for a gold medal as she cantered home to win her heat today with a reserved performance that suggests she can easily break her personal best of 50.28sec.

Nicola Sanders, Lee McConnell and Joanne Cuddihy also breezed into Monday's semi-finals.

In the women's 100m heats, Veronica Campbell cruised into the second round with a time of 11.33sec, hardly breaking a sweat.

Her main rival for the title, US champion Tori Edwards, won her heat in 11.14sec, easing up at the finish. Defending champion Lauryn Williams was second in her heat, advancing in 11.41sec.

In the women's shot put, defending champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus only squeezed into the final as the last qualifier with a mediocre throw of 18.23m that meant she avoided elimination by five centimetres.

If Ostapchuk was lucky, so was Spain's Francisco Javier Fernandez, who was reinstated to silver in the walk after being disqualified for lifting over the final stretch to catch Tunisia's Hatem Ghoula.

In a sport notorious for its technical infractions, Fernandez had both feet off the ground as he raced past Ghoula. The jury of appeal ruled it was insufficient to merit a disqualification. Both racers were given the same time of 1hr 22.40min, 20 seconds behind Perez.

The appeal cost Mexico's Eder Sanchez the bronze.