Carolina Klüft had never been beaten in a major championships as a senior but the Swede was only a handful of points from ceding her five-year unbeaten streak at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Klüft was dogged by rumours of poor form and fitness in the build-up to her title defence but these claims were immediately dismissed after the first event where she sped to a season’s best of 8.20 in the 60m hurdles.
And far from being out of form, Klüft almost matched her lifetime best - and came within 50 points of the since-beaten world pentathlon record - but she was pushed all the way by Kelly Sotherton, who put up a sterling showing in the city where she lives and trains.
Sport at the highest level often comes down to the smallest of margins and so it proved across the five events.
After being nearly identically matched in the first two events, Sotherton nudged ahead after the shot put - 14.57m to 14.43m - but the Swede eked out a 24-point lead before the 800m, reaching out to a season’s best of 6.59m in the long jump.
Sotherton gave it everything in the last event but Klüft’s competitive mettle could not be blighted. Sotherton ran it hard from the gun and crossed the finish-line ahead of Klüft but the Swede resolutely stalked Sotherton all the way and finished within one second of the Brit to keep hold of her title - and her unbeaten streak.
“I worked my guts off and pushed Carolina all the way,” said Sotherton. “It's been a great day. If I could have got a little closer to her in the long jump it might have been my day, but I got within one second of probably the greatest female athlete ever.”
This was one of the great head-to-heads in recent championships history and it was also one of the best pentathlon competitions in terms of depth.
The top six finishers all surpassed 4700 points - for posterity, the winning mark at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships was 4686 points - including Jessica Ennis, 21, who placed sixth with 4716 points before inheriting the mantle of the world’s best heptathlete from Kluft who retired from the heptathlon the following season.
Results:
1. Carolina Klüft (SWE) 4944 points
2. Kelly Sotherton (GBR) 4927 points
3. Karin Ruckstuhl (NED) 4801 points
Top three from Prague 2015:
1. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) 5000 points
2. Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 4696 points
3. Eliska Klucinova (CZE) 4687 points
Championship record: Johnson-Thompson, 5000 points - Prague/CZE, 6 March 2015
European record: Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR), 5013 points, Istanbul/TUR, 9 March 2012