By Sophie Greuil
PARIS, Aug 5 - France's Eunice Barber believes the
time has finally come for her to get the better of Sweden's
heptathlon queen Carolina Kluft.
The 31-year-old Barber, who has fought many close battles
with Kluft over the years, will lock horns with her rival again
in the European championships which start in Gothenburg on
Monday.
Home favourite Kluft beat Barber into second place in the
heptathlon at the 2003 and 2005 world championships and she will
again stand in her way next week.
Barber, however, said she was confident the tide would turn.
"I couldn't explain why but I have the feeling something
good is going to happen," Barber told Reuters before flying to
Sweden. "I know Carolina will be at home but that could also
turn out to be a handicap. She is not unbeatable.
"As always it will be a good fight between us. I'll give it
my very best to make sure I have no regrets."
It has been a turbulent year for Barber, who lodged a
complaint for alleged brutality and threats following a
controversial arrest by police in March in Paris.
Barber was driving her car near the Stade de France when
police forced her to stop. Police said at the time the athlete
had ignored an instruction to turn and had violently reacted to
the arrest.
SORE SHOULDER
The athlete suffered injuries and bruises and says she is
still hampered by a sore right shoulder.
"It's a problem for the javelin," said Barber.
"Because of that incident people believed I was nasty and
arrogant, which is not at all like me.
"I have never hit anybody. Never have I stolen anything or
insulted someone. I don't smoke, I don't take drugs and I don't
even party. My only drugs are athletics."
Barber, who could not speak a word of French when she
arrived in France from war-torn Sierra Leone in 1993, became a
French national in 1999.
That year, she won heptathlon gold at the world
championships. She was a world champion again four years later
in Paris, this time for the long jump, an event that she will
also compete in against Kluft in Gothenburg.
In the heptathlon of the 2003 world championships she took
silver behind Kluft and last year she again had to settle for
second place behind the Swede, Kluft winning by merely 63 points
after a thrilling contest.
As a result of the incident with the police, Barber could
not train for weeks and she has not completed a heptathlon this
season, although she has recorded encouraging performances in
various events over recent weeks.
Barber has never entered the European championships before,
missing the previous edition in 2002 in Munich through injury.