Kelly Sotherton was today tipped for Olympic heptathlon glory by Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the greatest all-round woman athlete the sport has ever seen.

American Joyner-Kersee, world record holder and double Olympic champion at the seven-event discipline, believes the battling Briton has the right attributes to add gold to her bronze from Athens four years ago, especially as some of her main rivals have dropped out of the running.

Swede Carolina Kluft, the Olympic, world and European champion, decided not to compete in the Beijing heptathlon, while Sotherton's British rival Jessica Ennis and Eunice Barber, of France, are both pulled out through injury.

"It seems like it is all coming together for Kelly," Joyner-Kersee said. "Unfortunately, Ennis is going to miss the Games with injury. Before that happened I thought that both were going to be in the medal counts so maybe Sotherton could take gold.

"She has great talent - the key for her is going to be staying healthy," added Joyner-Kersee, who won the heptathlon and long jump golds in Seoul in 1988 and the heptathlon again in Barcelona four years later.

Sotherton, at 31, remains one of Britain's best hopes for gold despite having not competed in a full heptathlon this year due to a series of fitness problems, including foot, back, and leg

Sotherton's main rivals, Russia's Tatyana Chernova, American Hyleas Fountain and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Blonska have all enjoyed better form in the past year but Joyner-Kersee said that may actually help Sotherton.

"You don't want to get caught in the expectations of other people," she said. "You have to make sure that you peak for the Olympic Games."