A portrait of Carolina Klüft in Birmingham (© Getty Images)
Carolina Klüft will not be competing in the Long Jump this winter because of the stress fracture she suffered last autumn.
The decision was announced by her father in the wake of rumours that the former Olympic and World Heptathlon champion would not be appearing at all on the boards this winter because of the injury.
"We have decided that she will only compete in the 60m," said her father Johnny Klüft. "Her injury is clearing up well, but it was too soon to risk the long jump so we have decided to only contest the 60m."
Klüft´s first indoor appearance takes place on 29 January in Gothenburg.
Unfortunately, the decision to drop the Long Jump from her plans this winter means that Kluft will be missing from the European Indoor championships which take place in Turin in March.
The news comes two weeks after it was announced that Klüft would not need an operation for the stress fracture in her shin.
"The injury is healing well and I don’t think there will be any need of an operation," commented the Swedish Athletic Federation doctor Leif Swärd just after Christmas.
In Osaka 2007, Kluft became the only heptathlete to win three World titles, but for the last Olympics she decided to switch events and concentrate on the long and triple jump instead.
When this latest injury was revealed last autumn, Kluft´s coach, Agne Bergvall, told the Swedish press that Kluft's fracture was not so serious: "She can't do any jumps training but we are pushing hard with running and strength training," he said.
At the time Kluft herself was positive about the injury and appeared to agree with her coach, rejecting any threat of missing the indoor season: "They say it will heal," she said, "and things look good.
"It's a very unusual injury. My lower leg hurt during the summer, but we treated it with ice and it went away. We had no idea it was something more serious," said Kluft.
Sprint hurdlers, Susanna and Jenny Kallur, also suffered from the same problem, but in their case it was more serious and they were obliged to go under the surgeon’s knife. Small steel plates were inserted to knit the weakened area of bone. The operation appears to have been a success and currently the pair are in South Africa training with other members of the Swedish squad in a pre-season camp. The twins have enjoyed sessions of light jogging as well as swimming pool sessions without ill effect.
Susanna also suffered from a hamstring injury in the summer that prevented her from competing a full programme before the Olympics in Beijing. But she looked in excellent form in the Bird's Nest until she fell in the semis, missing out on the sprint hurdles final when she looked in shape to take a medal.
Sister Jenny, on the other hand, has been sidelined for a year with her fracture.
Michael Butcher for the IAAF
