Kelly Sotherton gamely tries to sound genuinely disappointed, but it does not take long for the truth to emerge.

"A little bit yeah, and obviously no," Sotherton concedes with a laugh when asked if she is unhappy with the absence of Carolina Kluft from this summer's Olympics.

After winning everything there is to win in the heptathlon, Swedish superstar Kluft is not bothering to defend her Olympic title in Beijing, preferring to test herself in the long jump instead.

Suddenly the gold medal is genuinely up for grabs once more and Sotherton will travel to the Chinese capital - fitness permitting - as one of the favourites to follow in the footsteps of Sydney champion Denise Lewis and add gold to her bronze from Athens.

"It gives three or four of us a lot more opportunity to win a gold medal," added Sotherton, who will be carrying the full weight of British expectation after an ankle injury forced Jessica Ennis out of the Games.

"It is disappointing that you're not going to be competing against the world's best but at the same time I want to win and it makes it slightly easier that she's not there.

"It's still going to be a very hard task to win that gold medal, but it's going to be a lot more even. I am a little sad because it could be one of my last years as a heptathlete and I'd like it if we could have stopped together, it would have been poignant.

"Whether she's there or not I'm training to win the gold medal. I'm still as hungry for the gold medal as anybody."

Sotherton could follow in Kluft's footsteps in more ways than one, admitting she would like to compete in London in 2012 in an individual event.

"I hope to God I'm not a heptathlete then, I don't want to train for it for another four years, it's too hard," added the 31-year-old from the Isle of Wight.

"Maybe I will go down to one event - the easiest! I suit running so well so maybe the 400m, be part of the relay team.

"If I achieve my dream this year then I'll enjoy my athletics more I think. Probably do whatever I want, long jump or 400m.

"I think I'm a natural runner, I'm not a natural thrower or jumper."

Natural or not, Sotherton's performances in the high jump and long jump have never been a problem in the heptathlon.

But her struggles with the javelin have been well documented and have certainly cost her any chance of beating Kluft in the past.

When the 5ft tall Kenyan Margaret Simpson can throw 56 metres, Sotherton's personal best of 40.81m is put starkly in perspective, and she managed just a feeble 31.9m on her way to a World Championship bronze in Osaka last year.

But the Birmingham-based athlete is confident she has finally cracked the most difficult of her event's seven disciplines in time for her Olympic quest in Beijing.

"I actually enjoy throwing the javelin," Sotherton told BBC Radio Five Live.

"All winter I've probably had one bad session where I thought 'Oh my god, that's ridiculous, it's terrible.' But I've managed to turn it round.

"I've trained so hard to get it right that I'm actually beginning to look like a javelin thrower, not somebody just throwing a dart!

"I think people will see a distinct difference when I come on the runway. I'm more positive, I want to throw it and I mean it. There is a big difference. I'm quite positive it's going to go well and so is my coach. I'm quite looking forward to it.

"You've got to feel confident that you can lash the thing and when I get it right they go right. It's just a matter of doing it in competition but I'm so confident that I can."

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