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Denise Lewis

Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis DBE (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon.

Dame
Denise Lewis
DBE
Personal information
Born (1972-08-27) 27 August 1972 (age 52)
West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportAthletics
EventHeptathlon
ClubBirchfield Harriers
Coached byCharles van Commenee, Darrell Bunn
Retired2005
Achievements and titles
Personal best6,831 pts (2000)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Heptathlon
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Heptathlon
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1997 Athens Heptathlon
Silver medal – second place 1999 Sevilla Heptathlon
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Budapest Heptathlon
European Cup
Gold medal – first place 1995 Helmond Heptathlon
Silver medal – second place 2003 Brixen Heptathlon
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria Heptathlon
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur Heptathlon

She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, was the 1998 European Champion, and won World Championships silver medals in 1997 and 1999. She was the first European to win the Olympic heptathlon, though Europeans, including Briton Mary Peters, had won the Olympic pentathlon precursor event.

Her personal best score for the heptathlon is 6,831 points, set at the Décastar meeting in 2000. That is a former British record and ranks her third on the all-time British lists behind double World, double Commonwealth Games champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Olympic, three-time World and European champion Jessica Ennis-Hill.[1][2] Along with these two and pentathletes Mary Rand and Dame Mary Peters, Lewis is recognised as one of Britain's greatest female multi-eventers, and the first in the line of British global champions in heptathlon.

Since retiring from athletics, she has undertaken work on television and other media work, and was a regular athletics pundit for BBC Television, including during the Olympic Games in London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. It was announced that she had stepped down from her role at the BBC on the conclusion of the athletics programme at the 2024 Games.[3]

In addition to her media work, Lewis is president of Commonwealth Games England which is the official Commonwealth Games Association for England at the Commonwealth Games and, since 2023, president of UK Athletics, the governing body for the sport of Athletics in the United Kingdom.[4]

Early Career

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In her early heptathlete career at senior level Lewis won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 1996 Olympics, silver at the 1997 World Championships, gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and European Championships and silver at the 1999 World Championships.

2000 Olympics

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The first day of the 2000 Summer Olympics heptathlon was 23 September. In the first event, Lewis recorded 13.23 seconds[5] 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, clearing only 1.75m,[5] 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 15.55m,[5] placing her second, 30 points behind Natallia Sazanovich and 45 points ahead of former world champion Sabine Braun. Barber's distance of 11.27m put her in eighth place.

In the final event of the day, the 200 metres, Lewis recorded a time of 24.34 sec.[5] Braun's time placed 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:

  1. Natallia Sazanovich, BLR: 3,903
  2. Natalya Roshchupkina, RUS: 3,872
  3. Denise Lewis, GBR: 3,852
  4. Urszula Włodarczyk, POL: 3,805
  5. Yelena Prokhorova, RUS: 3,771
  6. Sabine Braun, GER: 3,770
  7. Eunice Barber, FRA: 3,707
  8. Karin Specht-Ertl, GER: 3,697

The first event on the second day was the long jump. Lewis's best jump was 6.48m,[5] 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 50.19m.[5] 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 metres, Lewis ran with the lower part of her left leg bandaged due to a calf and Achilles tendon injury, aiming to stay close enough to the race leaders to maintain her points advantage.[5] Prokhorova won the race convincingly and when Lewis crossed the line behind Sazanovich it was not clear, at first, if Lewis's time of 2:16.83 was enough to retain first place.[5] After the individual points had been calculated, it was announced that Lewis had won with a total of 6,584 points.[5] Prokhorova was second with 6,531 (53 points behind Lewis), and Sazanovich was third with 6,527 (4 points behind Prokhorova).[5]

2004 Olympics

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At the 2004 Olympics, Lewis was suffering from a number of injuries and withdrew from the competition after the long jump.[5] Teammate and training partner Kelly Sotherton took bronze.

Statistics

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Personal bests

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Event Best Date Meeting Venue Notes
100 m hurdles 13.13 seconds 29 July 2000 Décastar Talence, France
200 m 24.06 seconds 25 May 1996 Hypo-Meeting Götzis, Austria
800 m 2 min 12.20 seconds 30 July 2000 Décastar Talence, France
High jump 1.87 m 21 August 1999 1999 World Championships in Athletics Seville, Spain
Long jump 6.69 m 30 July 2000 Décastar Talence, France
Shot put 16.12 m 21 August 1999 1999 World Championships in Athletics Seville, Spain
Javelin 54.82 m 28 July 1996 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Atlanta, United States
Heptathlon 6,831 points 30 July 2000 Décastar Talence, France 100H 13.13
HJ 1.84
SP 15.07
200m 24.01w
LJ 6.69
JT 49.42
800m 2:12.20[6]

Seasonal bests

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International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1991 European Junior Championships Thessaloniki, Greece 5th Heptathlon 5,476 pts
1994 Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada 8th Long jump 6.32 m
1st Heptathlon 6,325 pts
European Championships Helsinki, Finland 19th (q) Long jump 6.20 m
1995 European Cup Combined Events Helmond, Netherlands 1st Heptathlon 6,299 pts
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 7th Heptathlon 6,299 pts
1996 European Indoor Championships Stockholm, Sweden 8th Long jump 6.42 m
European Cup Madrid, Spain 4th Long jump 6.66 m
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 23rd (q) Long jump 6.33 m
3rd Heptathlon 6,489 pts
1997 European Cup Munich, Germany 4th Long jump 6.56
World Championships Athens, Greece 2nd Heptathlon 6,654 pts
1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st Heptathlon 6,513
European Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st Heptathlon 6,559 pts
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 2nd Heptathlon 6,724 pts
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 1st Heptathlon 6,584 pts
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada — Heptathlon DNS
2003 European Cup Combined Events 1st League Tallinn, Estonia 2nd Heptathlon 6,282 pts
World Championships Paris, France 5th Heptathlon 6,254 pts
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece — Heptathlon DNF

National titles

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† Lewis was the top placed Briton at the 2004 AAA Indoor shot put behind Sweden's Helena Engman

Circuit wins

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Honours, awards and recognition

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For services to sport, Lewis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours,[12] Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours[13] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours .[14][15]

In 2000, Lewis was also presented with the Freedom of the City of the Wolverhampton. Lewis, in 2013, was honoured at the annual Wolverhampton Famous Sons & Daughters Awards ceremony,[16][17] and in 2014, was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton.[18] She was also inducted into the Wolverhampton Sporting Hall of Fame in 2010,[19][20] followed by the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.[21][22]

With Dame Kelly Holmes, Christine Ohuruogu and Paula Radcliffe, Lewis enjoys acclamation as one of the "golden girls" of British athletics and, in 1998 and 2000, was 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 to the eventual winner, Reginald Mitchell, the inventor of the Supermarine Spitfire.

Lewis was voted "Sportswoman of the Year" three times by the Sports Journalists' Association (SJA), in 1997, 1998 and 2000, at that time a joint-record. She was also runner up in 1996.[23] She was selected as "Female Athlete of the Year" by the British Athletics Writers' Association (BAWA) four times, in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000.[24][25] Lewis won the Sunday Times "Sportswoman of the Year" a record three times, in 1994, 1998 and 2000.[26][27]

At the inaugural British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) in 2015, Lewis became the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.[28][29] She was rated as the Most Influence Sportswoman of 1998 & 2000 by Women's Health.[30]

Her British and Commonwealth record of 6831 points was set on 30 July 2000 in Talence, France.[5] As of 2013, she ranked 15th in the Heptathlon all-time list.

In 2002, Lewis' Olympic victory was ranked 90th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

In 2010, Lewis was made a Patron of the Jaguar Academy of Sport.[31]

Outside of her sports achievements, Lewis was included in the 2019 edition of the Powerlist, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons. [32]

Television career

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Punditry and presenting

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Since 2009, Lewis has acted as a pundit for BBC Sport's athletics coverage and she has covered major live events including the 2009 World Athletics Championships, 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2016 Summer Olympics.

On 2 February 2015, Lewis guest hosted an episode of The One Show with Matt Baker.

Lewis has also been a presenter on various non-sports television programmes. In July 2015, she co-hosted Right on the Money, a daytime series on BBC One, alongside Dominic Littlewood. The programme returned for a second series in July 2016. From 22 July 2011, Lewis hosted children's reality television show Camp Orange. She is a presenter of the BBC's Secret Britain (series 3 onwards) which introduced lesser-known aspects of the British countryside.[33]

Strictly Come Dancing

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Main article: Strictly Come Dancing

In 2004, Lewis took part in the BBC dancing competition, Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with professional dancer Ian Waite and, in the first few weeks scored the highest number of points from the judges. She eventually reached the final and was runner-up to actress Jill Halfpenny. After that, Lewis and the two other partners from the final danced at the Royal Variety Performance.

Ten days after competing in the Strictly Come Dancing final, Lewis and Waite competed again in the Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions Special, in which finalists from the first two series competed against each other. Lewis received the most points from the judges, but again was runner-up to Halfpenny. She then appeared on the 2016 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, partnered with Anton du Beke.

TV guest appearances

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Personal life

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Born on 27 August 1972 in West Bromwich,[34] to Jamaican-born parents, Lewis grew up in Pendeford, Wolverhampton, and was educated at the Regis School in Tettenhall, which later became the King's School.[35] A £1 million sports hall was later built there and named in her honour.[36]

From the late 1990s until 2005, Lewis was in a relationship with Belgian sprinter Patrick Stevens, and they had a daughter. In 2006, Lewis married Steve Finan O'Connor, former manager of the UK pop group All Saints, current manager of Liam Payne, and son of comedian Tom O'Connor.[37] They have three sons.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "HepW Women Overall All Time to 4857". Power of 10. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Senior Outdoor All time". European Athletic Association. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  3. ^ "BBC Sport Tweet". Twitter. 10 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Dame Denise Lewis elected UK Athletics president". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Denise Lewis". UK Athletics.net. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
  6. ^ "UKA Official Website, Denise Lewis". UK Athletics Ltd. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  7. ^ AAA Championships (Women) Archived 4 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  8. ^ AAA Indoor Championships (Women) Archived 18 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  9. ^ AAA Junior Championships Archived 30 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  10. ^ British Schools International Match Archived 29 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  11. ^ "English Schools Championships (Girls). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-10-03". Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  12. ^ "No. 55354". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1998. p. 18.
  13. ^ "No. 56070". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2000. p. 12.
  14. ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N9.
  15. ^ "New Year Honours 2023: Brian May and Lionesses on list". BBC News. 30 December 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Gongs galore for Wolverhampton's top talents". Express & Star. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Liam Payne: Wolverhampton honour is most important award I've received". nativemonster.com. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Olympian Denise Lewis awarded honorary degree". ITV. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  19. ^ "Denise Lewis and Bert Williams get Hall of Fame honour". BBC News. BBC. 15 September 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Bert Williams and Denise Lewis join the hall of fame". Express & Star. 27 September 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  21. ^ "2011 Inductee videos". England Athletics. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  22. ^ "ENGLAND ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME HONOURS DISTINGUISHED HARRIER DENISE LEWIS". Birchfield Harriers. 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  23. ^ "Past winners of the SJA British Sports Awards". Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  24. ^ "BAWA Award winners". SJA. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  25. ^ "Awards". BAWA. October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  26. ^ "Another accolade for Lewis". BBC. 28 November 2000. Archived from the original on 8 September 2003. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  27. ^ "Charlotte up for Sportswoman of the Year". World Dressage News. 1 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  28. ^ "Golden Girl Denise Lewis Is A Winner Again". Voice Online. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  29. ^ "BEDSA Awards celebrate diversity in sport". Connect Sport. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  30. ^ "The Most Inspiring Sports Women Of The Past 20 Years". Women's Health. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  31. ^ Jaguar Academy of Sport. "Homepage". Archived from the original on 28 February 2012.
  32. ^ Hicks, Amber (23 October 2018). "List of 100 most influential black people includes Meghan Markle for first time". mirror. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  33. ^ "BBC One - Secret Britain, Series 3". Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  34. ^ "Midlands' Olympic legends: Denise Lewis". itv.com. 6 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  35. ^ "Letter from the Principal". Kings Wolverhampton. August 2022. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  36. ^ "Golden girl Denise wins honorary degree". expressandstar.com. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  37. ^ Traynor, Luke (19 July 2021). "Olympian Denise Lewis pays tribute to father-in-law Tom O'Connor". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Denise Lewis.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Women's Heptathlon Best Year Performance
1998 		Succeeded by
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