Sotherton eyes up track for 2012

British heptathlete Kelly Sotherton is as determined as ever to win Olympic gold but wants to focus on a single running event for 2012 in London.

With Carolina Kluft opting out of the event, Sotherton will be regarded as one of the favourites this summer.

The 31-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Over the last two seasons I have become more focused and I want it more.

"But I don't want to train for another four years. I may go down to one event like the 400 metres and do the relay."

A recent kidney illness in Italy means she will not compete in a heptathlon before Beijing, but the Athens bronze medallist remains confident, despite admitting it is not ideal preparation.

"I am beginning to look like a javelin thrower and not someone who is throwing a dart!"
Kelly Sotherton

"The best athletes in the world don't have a smooth pathway," she added. "It does make it a bit more interesting.

"I am a bit older so I probably need the rest and it means I get more training. I do not want to risk anything. The Olympics is much too important."

Sotherton will compete in the 100m hurdles and 400m in Holland and Germany over the next three weeks, before moving on to the trials in Birmingham and the Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

"I am putting myself in positions where I'm challenged and doing competitions where I do three or four events at a time and getting my body used to competing," she said.

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One discipline Sotherton has always struggled in is the javelin and she has gone through a variety of coaches to remedy the problem.

However, having worked hard to improve her technique, she said she only had "one bad javelin session all winter" and now no longer feared throwing anymore.

"I have managed to turn it around," she said. "I am beginning to look like a javelin thrower and not someone who is throwing a dart!"

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