Carolina Kluft

Biography

Carolina grew up in Växjö, where her father, mother and three sisters still live. Nowadays she is living in Karlskrona together with her boyfriend Patrik Kristiansson, who is a pole vaulter. She has a mascot representing Eeyore that she carries with her everywhere.
She won the heptathlon at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris with a score of 7,001 points, ahead of Eunice Barber, who had 6,755 points. The score of 7001 points made her the third woman to score 7,000 or more points. She was later awarded Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2003.
By heptathlon standards Carolina is excellent in the jumping events and also in sprinting and hurdling. Her throwing is solid, as is her 800m. She couldn't be described as having a weakness in any of the seven events.
Carolina also won the heptathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a score of 6,952 points, a margin of 517 points.
In 2005 she injured her foot the day before the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki. The injury affected her performance, but she still managed to win the gold medal, with a score of 6,887 points, ahead of Eunice Barber, who had 6,824 points. There was controversy when Barber claimed that a marginal long jump take off by Kluft should have been judged a foul.
Carolina is renowned for her friendly nature and exuberance when competing. This makes her very popular amongst fans and she has good comradeship with her fellow athletes. She is also modest and keeps her career in perspective, taking an active interest in world affairs and sponsoring children in Africa.
She has currently, as of August 29, 2005, been ranked the number one female pentathlete / heptathlete in the world for 154 consecutive weeks, since September 16, 2002.
It is conceivable that Kluft could win the heptathlon at the next two Olympic Games and be remembered as the best heptathlete of all time. Remarkably, she has won every multi-event competition she has entered since being a junior in 2002, but late problems with her foot and knee could hamper her future in heptatlon, especially long- and high jump seem to cause problems. She has rumoured to beaten the Swedish triple-jump record at practice and pole-vaulted above 3,8m. I think pole-vault going to be her second career, given the problems with her foot and knee.