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19 February 2009 |
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By Phil Casey, PA Sport Olympic heptathlon champion Nataliya Dobrynska has targeted a second gold medal at London 2012 and Jackie Joyner-Kersee's 21-year-old world record.
Dobrynska will take on Britain's Kelly Sotherton in a three-event challenge in Saturday's Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham. But she is already looking forward to the London Olympics and, after claiming gold with a new personal best of 6,733 points in Beijing, believes the world record of 7,291 is within her sights. Dobrynska, 26, said: "Kelly has beaten me a number of times and I will be looking to raise my targets again this weekend to make sure I win. "I really hope to compete in London in 2012, the Olympics are always going to be at the forefront of my mind, but I try to take it year by year, competition by competition and keep on form. "I have already achieved an Olympic gold, I would love to do that again, but also my aim is to break both the European and World records." The European record is held by Sweden's all-conquering Carolina Kluft with 7,032 points, while Joyner-Kersee's mark was set back at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Kluft is currently taking a break from the heptathlon and Dobrynska admits she is some way short of the superstar Swede's status. "I don't feel that I am a superstar, I am the same person I was before Beijing. I just want to train hard, continue to win and stay at the top," the Ukrainian added. "After Beijing I spent quite a lot of time doing media promotions and interviews so only started back training in December. "I'm probably not at the same fitness I was before the Olympics but I'm certainly ready for this weekend." View article at www.sportinglife.com
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