Carolina Kluft is hoping Birchfield Harrier Kelly Sotherton will succeed her as Olympic heptathlon champion in Beijing this summer.

The 25-year-old Swede holds the world and Olympic titles but has chosen to forgo the heptathlon in China and will instead compete in the long jump and triple jump.

Kluft made no secret of the great admiration she holds, not only for Sotherton, but for fellow Briton Jessica Ennis, who has been ruled out with injury.

Kluft hopes Sotherton - bronze medallist four years ago - will shine in Beijing. Kluft said: "My hopes are that Kelly will be one of the medallists.

"She's one of my best friends and a good athlete and really deserves that gold medal. I cross my fingers for her."

Kluft feels for Ennis, who has a foot injury, adding: "It's so sad for her but she'll come again."

Kluft has no regrets that she will not be defending her heptathlon title, having lost motivation for the seven-event discipline.  She admitted: "It was a difficult decision but something was wrong and I didn't have the same feeling for the heptathlon. I came to the solution that I needed something new."

However, the multi-event star has not ruled out again taking up the specialised event.

"Never say never, right now I feel very happy with the new challenge and I want to give 100% to these two new events," she said. On the London 2012 Games, she explained: "I don't see myself competing in London but I don't know. I think London is very far away from me."

Kluft will tonight compete in the long jump as a guest at the Royal Bank of Scotland Celtic Cup in Grangemouth and is hoping to eclipse the Swedish record of 6.99metres.

Kluft also believes Dwain Chambers and other former drug cheats should be banned for life from the Olympics.

Chambers, who served a two-year ban after testing positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) in 2003, will later this week launch his appeal against a bylaw that currently prevents him from ever representing his country at Olympic level.

His legal advisors are expecting to serve proceedings against the British Olympic Association (BOA), which will hopefully be heard in the High Court before the UK trials begin in Birmingham on July 11.

Kluft has long been an advocate of a zero-tolerance drugs policy and champions a lifetime Games ban.

"If you have proof that someone on purpose has cheated and did it - why not?" said Kluft. "I know I'm clean and I'm focused on my competitions. I don't read about Dwain Chambers because it's his problem and just sad that he cheated.

"Maybe there should be a good punishment that you cannot be part of the Olympic Games again, because sometimes it feels like two years is not enough.

"People cheat, they come back and they win again, so it's not fair for the ones that are clean and train hard and believe in a clean sport."