Denise Lewis
Encyclopedia
Denise Lewis OBE
(born 27 August 1972, in West Bromwich
, England) is a retired British athlete who specialised in the heptathlon
. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
.
heptathlon
was 23 September. In the first event, Lewis recorded 13.23 seconds for the 100 metres hurdles to be in second place behind the world champion, Eunice Barber
, who had finished in 12.97 seconds. Ghada Shouaa
, the 1996 Olympic champion, pulled-out after only 20 metres of her heat.
After a poor performance in the high jump
of only 1.75 m, some way off her personal best, Lewis was in eighth place, 152 points behind Barber who had increased her lead. In the third event, the shot put
, Lewis recorded a distance of 15.55 m, placing her second. 30 points behind Natallia Sazanovich
and 45 points ahead of former world champion Sabine Braun
. Barber's distance of 11.27 m put her in eighth place.
In the final event of the day, the 200 metres, Lewis recorded a time of 24.34 sec. Sabine Braun's time placed put her in sixth position. A strong run by Natalya Roshchupkina
moved her from sixth position to second, pushing Lewis into third place.
At the end of the first day, the points scored were:
The first event on the second day was the long jump. Lewis's best jump was 6.48 m, marginally behind Yelena Prokhorova and Sazanovich. Eunice Barber
, struggling with injury, withdrew after this event. In event six, the javelin
, Lewis achieved a throw of 50.19 m. With her closest rivals some way further back she moved into first place with Sazanovich 63 points behind in second place and Prokhorova in third a further 83 points behind.
In the final event, the 800 m, Lewis ran with the lower part of her left leg bandaged for a calf and Achilles tendon
injury, aiming to stay close enough to the race leaders to maintain her points advantage. Prokhorova won the race convincingly and when Lewis crossed the line behind Sazanovich it was not, at first, clear if Lewis's time of 2:16.83 was enough to retain first place. After the individual points had been calculated, it was announced that Lewis had won with a total of 6584 points. Prokhorova was second with 6531 (53 points behind Lewis) and Sazanovich was third with 6527 (4 points behind Prokhorova).
took bronze.
(OBE).
In 2000 she was also given the Freedom of the City of Wolverhampton.
In 2011, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame
.
Alongside Kelly Holmes
, Paula Radcliffe
and Christine Ohuruogu
, Lewis is one of the current "golden girls" of British athletics and has twice, 1998 and 2000, been runner up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
. In 2003 Lewis was put forward as a candidate in the BBC
Midlands great midlander of all-time award but lost out to eventual winner Reginald Mitchell the inventor of the Supermarine Spitfire
.
Her British and Commonwealth record of 6831 points was set on 30 July 2000 in Talence
, France. It is currently twenty-second in the all time list.
In 2002, her Olympic victory was ranked 90th in Channel 4
's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
dancing competition, Strictly Come Dancing
. She was partnered alongside professional dancer, Ian Waite
and in the first few weeks scored the highest number of points with the judges. She didn't achieve her tongue-in-cheek ambition of a foxtrot round the dance floor with the IOC
President, Jacques Rogge
. She eventually reached the final and was runner-up to actress Jill Halfpenny
. After this, she and the two other partners from the final, danced at the Royal Variety Performance
.
About 10 days after competing in the final of Strictly Come Dancing, Denise and Ian competed again in the Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions Special, where the finalists from both series of the contest, competed against each other. Denise received the most points from the judges, however she once again became the runner up of the contest, as Jill Halfpenny won overall.
She again revisited the role for the BBC's charitable fund-raiser Let's Dance for Comic Relief
in 2009, reaching the final of the competition.
coverage of the 2009 World Athletics Championships
from Berlin
alongside Michael Johnson
and Colin Jackson
.
In 2010, Denise was a pundit for BBC Sport's
coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
from Delhi
, again alongside Michael Johnson
and Colin Jackson
.
and son of comedian Tom O'Connor. She has three children: Lauryn, Ryan and Kane.
She went to The Regis School in Wolverhampton
, later to become The King's School, Church of England
. A £1 million sports hall was later built there and named after her.
She played on "All Star Family Fortunes" broadcast on 29 November 2009 with her husband, mum, step son Joe O'Connor and best friend. She went on to win £10,000 for her chosen charity, The African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
In July 2011, Lewis appeared on a celebrity edition of the BBC One gameshow Pointless
with her father-in-law Tom O'Connor. They reached the final, eventually winning £500 for charity.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 27 August 1972, in West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
, England) is a retired British athlete who specialised in the heptathlon
Heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field athletics combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek hepta and athlon . A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.-Women's Heptathlon:...
. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
2000 Olympics
The first day of the 2000 Summer Olympics2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
heptathlon
Heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field athletics combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek hepta and athlon . A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.-Women's Heptathlon:...
was 23 September. In the first event, Lewis recorded 13.23 seconds for the 100 metres hurdles to be in second place behind the world champion, Eunice Barber
Eunice Barber
Eunice Barber is a Sierra Leonean athlete competing in heptathlon and long jump. Barber initially competed for Sierra Leone and then for France from 1999 onwards...
, who had finished in 12.97 seconds. Ghada Shouaa
Ghada Shouaa
Ghada Shouaa is a Syrian former heptathlete. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won her country's first and only Olympic gold medal....
, the 1996 Olympic champion, pulled-out after only 20 metres of her heat.
After a poor performance in the high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
of only 1.75 m, some way off her personal best, Lewis was in eighth place, 152 points behind Barber who had increased her lead. In the third event, the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
, Lewis recorded a distance of 15.55 m, placing her second. 30 points behind Natallia Sazanovich
Natallia Sazanovich
Natallia Sazanovich is a former Belarusian heptathlete. She won two Olympic medals, and achieved her personal best score of 6563 points at the 1996 Olympics. Sazanovich is also the 2001 World Indoor champion. She also competed at the 2004 Olympics, but withdrew after two...
and 45 points ahead of former world champion Sabine Braun
Sabine Braun
Sabine Braun is a German former athlete in track and field. Because she had talents in several disciplines, Sabine Braun competed in the heptathlon and had a number of successes...
. Barber's distance of 11.27 m put her in eighth place.
In the final event of the day, the 200 metres, Lewis recorded a time of 24.34 sec. Sabine Braun's time placed put her in sixth position. A strong run by Natalya Roshchupkina
Natalya Roshchupkina
-Achievements:-External links:*...
moved her from sixth position to second, pushing Lewis into third place.
At the end of the first day, the points scored were:
- Natallia Sazanovich, BLRBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
: 3903 - Natalya Roshchupkina, RUSRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
: 3872 - Denise Lewis, GBRUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: 3852 - Urszula Włodarczyk, POLPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
: 3805 - Yelena ProkhorovaYelena ProkhorovaYelena Prokhorova is a Russian heptathlete who won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is also the 2001 world champion in this event. She was born at Kemerovo, in Siberia....
, RUS: 3771 - Sabine Braun, GERGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: 3770 - Eunice Barber, FRAFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
: 3707 - Karin Specht-ErtlKarin ErtlKarin Ertl, née Specht is a German heptathlete.-Achievements:-External links:...
, GER: 3697
The first event on the second day was the long jump. Lewis's best jump was 6.48 m, marginally behind Yelena Prokhorova and Sazanovich. Eunice Barber
Eunice Barber
Eunice Barber is a Sierra Leonean athlete competing in heptathlon and long jump. Barber initially competed for Sierra Leone and then for France from 1999 onwards...
, struggling with injury, withdrew after this event. In event six, the javelin
Javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
, Lewis achieved a throw of 50.19 m. With her closest rivals some way further back she moved into first place with Sazanovich 63 points behind in second place and Prokhorova in third a further 83 points behind.
In the final event, the 800 m, Lewis ran with the lower part of her left leg bandaged for a calf and Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
injury, aiming to stay close enough to the race leaders to maintain her points advantage. Prokhorova won the race convincingly and when Lewis crossed the line behind Sazanovich it was not, at first, clear if Lewis's time of 2:16.83 was enough to retain first place. After the individual points had been calculated, it was announced that Lewis had won with a total of 6584 points. Prokhorova was second with 6531 (53 points behind Lewis) and Sazanovich was third with 6527 (4 points behind Prokhorova).
2004 Olympics
At the 2004 Olympics, Lewis was suffering from a number of injuries and withdrew from the competition after the long jump. Team-mate and training partner Kelly SothertonKelly Sotherton
Kelly Jade Sotherton is an English heptathlete and 400m sprinter. She was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and was fourth at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also was a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and was the heptathlon gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth...
took bronze.
Personal bests
- 100 m hurdles - 13.13 seconds (1,105 points)
- 200 m - 24.10 seconds (971)
- 800 m - 2 min 12.20 seconds (933)
- High jump - 1.87 m (1,067)
- Long jump - 6.69 m (1,069)
- Shot put - 16.12 m (936)
- Javelin - 51.48 m (889)
- Heptathlon PB - 6831 points Talence, France 2000 (theoretical best 6970 points - adding all her PBs together)
Awards and recognition
In the 2000 New Years Honours List, Lewis was made an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE).
In 2000 she was also given the Freedom of the City of Wolverhampton.
In 2011, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame
England Athletics Hall of Fame
The England Athletics Hall of Fame was launched in 2008 with a panel of experts selecting a list of potential inductees for athletics fans and members of the public to vote on. The Hall of Fame honours those who have made an outstanding contribution to the sport of athletics in England...
.
Alongside Kelly Holmes
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
, Paula Radcliffe
Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours...
and Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu MBE is an English athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres; the event for which she is the current Olympic and former World and Commonwealth Champion...
, Lewis is one of the current "golden girls" of British athletics and has twice, 1998 and 2000, been runner up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...
. In 2003 Lewis was put forward as a candidate in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Midlands great midlander of all-time award but lost out to eventual winner Reginald Mitchell the inventor of the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
.
Her British and Commonwealth record of 6831 points was set on 30 July 2000 in Talence
Talence
Talence is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side...
, France. It is currently twenty-second in the all time list.
In 2002, her Olympic victory was ranked 90th in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2004, Lewis took part in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
dancing competition, Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
. She was partnered alongside professional dancer, Ian Waite
Ian Waite
Ian Waite is a professional Latin-American dancer, teacher and choreographer.-Biography:Waite was born in Reading, UK. He started dancing at the age of 10. Mary Richardson, a former Latin American champion put him through a rigorous medallist regime...
and in the first few weeks scored the highest number of points with the judges. She didn't achieve her tongue-in-cheek ambition of a foxtrot round the dance floor with the IOC
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
President, Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge, Count Rogge , is a Belgian sports bureaucrat. He is the eighth and current President of the International Olympic Committee .-Life and career:...
. She eventually reached the final and was runner-up to actress Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny is an English actress.Halfpenny is best known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins in the British soap opera Coronation Street from 1999–2000, and as Kate Mitchell in rival soap EastEnders, from 2002-2005...
. After this, she and the two other partners from the final, danced at the Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
.
About 10 days after competing in the final of Strictly Come Dancing, Denise and Ian competed again in the Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions Special, where the finalists from both series of the contest, competed against each other. Denise received the most points from the judges, however she once again became the runner up of the contest, as Jill Halfpenny won overall.
She again revisited the role for the BBC's charitable fund-raiser Let's Dance for Comic Relief
Let's Dance for Comic Relief
Let's Dance for Comic Relief is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charity Comic Relief. The programme is currently presented by Steve Jones and Alex Jones, who replaced previous host Claudia Winkleman in...
in 2009, reaching the final of the competition.
Punditry
In 2009, Denise was a pundit for BBC Sport'sBBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
coverage of the 2009 World Athletics Championships
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
alongside Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
and Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson CBE is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. Over his career representing Great Britain and Wales he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and...
.
In 2010, Denise was a pundit for BBC Sport's
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
2010 Commonwealth Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...
from Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, again alongside Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
and Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson CBE is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. Over his career representing Great Britain and Wales he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and...
.
Camp Orange (UK)
Lewis now hosts Camp Orange. Season 1 premiered on July 22nd, 2011.Personal life
Lewis is married to Steve Finan, former manager of the UK pop group All SaintsAll Saints (band)
All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton...
and son of comedian Tom O'Connor. She has three children: Lauryn, Ryan and Kane.
She went to The Regis School in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, later to become The King's School, Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. A £1 million sports hall was later built there and named after her.
She played on "All Star Family Fortunes" broadcast on 29 November 2009 with her husband, mum, step son Joe O'Connor and best friend. She went on to win £10,000 for her chosen charity, The African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
In July 2011, Lewis appeared on a celebrity edition of the BBC One gameshow Pointless
Pointless (TV series)
Pointless is a quiz show shown on BBC One, hosted by Alexander Armstrong, with Richard Osman as assistant. It has been broadcast since 24 August 2009....
with her father-in-law Tom O'Connor. They reached the final, eventually winning £500 for charity.