Carolina Klüft gave the clearest indication yet that she is considering missing the heptathlon at the Beijing Olympics, a decision that would leave the door open for Jessica Ennis and Kelly Sotherton, the British pair.

The Olympic, world and European champion has not lost a senior heptathlon for almost seven years, but said at a meeting in Boston: “I’m not 100 per cent sure if I’ll do the heptathlon again. At the end of the indoor season I will know what I want to do in the Olympics this summer. It will be the long jump for sure, maybe the heptathlon too. In life you need changes.”

Klüft, 24, felt “empty” after retaining her world title in Osaka, Japan, last year and said: “I still don’t have that motivation and I’m not sure it’s going to come back in the spring when I’m training outdoors again.”

Ennis, who started the season in good shape at the Norwich Union International in Glasgow on Saturday, said: “I’m training as if she is going to be there. Lots of other girls are very strong besides her.”

Klüft’s personal best in the long jump would have been enough to secure silver at the last World Championships. With Sotherton also considering a switch to the long jump after Beijing, Ennis’s status as a 2012 gold-medal prospect looks increasingly assured.