Unbeaten since 2002 in multi-discipline events, Carolina Kluft became the first athlete to win three successive heptathlon World Championship gold medals, in Osaka in 2007. During her victory Kluft, 24, beat an 18-year-old European record held by Larisa Nikitina, scoring 7,032 points. It was a significant triumph as she was still recovering from fitness problems of the previous years. She competed in only one heptathlon, a fifth victory in Gotzis, Austria, before Osaka.
