Jessica Ennis has played down her Olympic gold medal hopes after heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft again suggested she might not defend her title this summer.
Kluft's absence in Beijing - where she would have the opportunity to match the two consecutive triumphs of the USA's Jackie Joyner-Kersee - would undermine the competition.
But it would also vastly improve the chances of Ennis and her fellow Briton Kelly Sotherton, who beat her compatriot for the World Championships bronze medal last summer by just 41 points.
At the Reebok Boston Games yesterday, Kluft hinted she may instead focus on the long jump.
The Swede admitted to a shortage of motivation having not lost a multi-event competition for six years - but she did leave the door open in the event of a change of heart.
"I actually don't know right now," said Kluft, who was surprisingly beaten into third place in the long jump by American Lela Nelson and Elva Goulbourne of Jamaica.
"I'm not sure that (motivation) is not going to come back when I go through spring and go to train outside again."
Before Christmas Kluft had been much more emphatic that she she was considering a change in her Olympic discipline.
"I'm definitely going to do what I feel for, and I'm going to do what my heart wants," said the Scandinavian who will be 25 next weekend.
Despite an under-par performance in Boston, Kluft even suggested she could double up and chase both titles in China.
"I definitely want to do the long jump as well, I'm putting a lot of effort in and focus as well," she said.
Ennis, who was in top form yesterday at the Norwich Union in Glasgow, insists she will not alter her preparations or mindset on the off chance the undisputed world number one opts out.
She said: "Even though Carolina had said that she might not compete in the heptathlon in Beijing, I am going to focus my mind on her being there.
"If she does not do it, it will change the whole perspective of the event.
"She is one of the greatest of all time."
She added: "I am not sure it means I can start thinking about gold."
"There are a great deal of good athletes out there and gold is probably a bit too far out of my reach. I am not going to be thinking like that."
Ennis was more concerned with focusing on her displays at the Kelvin Hall, where she matched her 60 metres hurdles best and exceeded her indoor long jump record three times.
"It has been a fantastic afternoon and I am delighted with four personal bests," said Ennis, who clocked 8.18secs in coming last in a top-quality hurdles field, then leapt 6.33 metres for second in the long jump.
Although Ennis, 22 tomorrow,
will compete in her home city of Sheffield at the UK World Indoor trials in a fortnight's time, she again reiterated the World Indoor Championships are a definite non-starter.
Performing well in Beijing is the Briton's sole focus and with her first heptathlon taking place at the end of May in Gotzis, she is turning her attention to that.
Craig Pickering will be making the trip to Valencia, however, and he showed he has lost none of his form from last year's indoor season with a very powerful 60m victory.
Just as he did at the meeting 12 months earlier, Pickering again sped to the fastest time in the world this year - although two hundredths of a second slower on this occasion.
The former European junior 100m champion blitzed his rivals with an almost perfect display, crossing the line in an impressive 6.57secs.
"It's always nice to open your season with a victory, but also achieving a fast time is something else to enjoy," said Pickering.
With the World Indoor Championships qualifier easily under his belt, he will now prepare for the Norwich Union GB trials on February 9-10 with a testing outing in Stuttgart on Saturday.
The German meeting is ranked one of the best in the world, and a year ago he was brought down to earth after his Glasgow victory by finishing third behind world-class opposition.
Apart from Pickering, there were victories from Richard Buck (400m), Chris Tomlinson (long jump), Jeanette Kwakye (60m), Jenny Meadows (800m), Lisa Dobriskey (1500m) and Katrina Wootton (3000m) in the international match.
Pickering's win in the last event of the programme lifted the team from third to first, the score of 54 points enough for a narrow one-point victory over the USA and Germany.
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