Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | West Bromwich, England | 27 August 1972|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Heptathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Birchfield Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Charles van Commenee, Darrell Bunn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best | 6,831 pts (2000) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis DBE (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports presenter, sports administrator and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the 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 is now a regular athletics pundit for BBC Television, including during the Olympic Games in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. 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. [3]
The first day of the 2000 Summer Olympics heptathlon was 23 September. In the first event, Lewis rerecorded 13.23 seconds [4] 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, [4] 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, [4] 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. [4] 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:
The first event on the second day was the long jump. Lewis's best jump was 6.48m, [4] 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. [4] 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. [4] 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. [4] After the individual points had been calculated, it was announced that Lewis had won with a total of 6,584 points. [4] Prokhorova was second with 6,531 (53 points behind Lewis), and Sazanovich was third with 6,527 (4 points behind Prokhorova). [4]
At the 2004 Olympics, Lewis was suffering from a number of injuries and withdrew from the competition after the long jump. [4] Teammate and training partner Kelly Sotherton took bronze.
Event | Best | Date | Meeting | Venue | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 m hurdles | 13.13 seconds | 29 July 2000 | Décastar | Talence, France | |
200 m | 24.10 seconds | 1 June 1997 | 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 | 51.48 m | 10 July 2004 | 2004 AAA Championships | Manchester, United Kingdom | |
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 [5] |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
For services to sport, Lewis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours, [11] Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours [12] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours . [13] [14]
In 2000, Lewis was also presented with the Freedom of the City of Wolverhampton. In 2010, she was inducted into the Wolverhampton Sporting Hall of Fame, [15] [16] while in 2011, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame. [17] [18] In 2013, Lewis was honoured at the annual Wolverhampton Famous Sons & Daughters Awards ceremony. [19] [20] In 2014, she was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton. [21]
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, a joint-record. She was also runner up in 1996. [22] She was selected as "Female Athlete of the Year" by the British Athletics Writers' Association (BAWA) four times, in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000. [23] [24] Lewis won the Sunday Times "Sportswoman of the Year" a record three times, in 1994, 1998 and 2000. [25] [26]
At the inaugural British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) in 2015, Lewis became the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. [27] [28]
Her British and Commonwealth record of 6831 points was set on 30 July 2000 in Talence, France. [4] As of 2013 [update] , 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. [29]
Outside of her sports achievements, Lewis was included in the 2019 edition of the Powerlist, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons. [30]
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. [31]
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.
In October 2022, Lewis was unmasked as Sea Slug in series 2 of The Masked Dancer.
Born on 27 August 1972 in West Bromwich, [32] 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. [33] A £1 million sports hall was later built there and named in her honour. [34]
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. [35] They have three sons.
Carolina Evelyn Klüft is a retired Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon, pentathlon, long jump and triple jump. She was an Olympic Champion, having won the heptathlon title in 2004. She was also a three-time World heptathlon champion, World Indoor pentathlon champion, a two-time European heptathlon champion and a two-time European Indoor pentathlon champion. Klüft is the only athlete ever to win three consecutive world titles in the heptathlon. She was unbeaten in 22 heptathlon and pentathlon competitions from 2002 to 2007, her entire combined events career as a senior athlete, winning nine consecutive gold medals in major championships.
Ghada Shouaa is a retired Syrian heptathlete. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won her country's first and only Olympic gold medal. She was also a World and Asian heptathlon champion. She is considered one of the best Asian and Arab female athletes of all time. She was a Syrian flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell is a British former track-and-field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international event open to her, claiming Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, Commonwealth Games, Goodwill Games, IAAF World Cup and European Cup golds in the event, and breaking the British, European and World records in it. She is the only female British athlete to have won all four 'majors'; Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles, and was the first female 400 metres hurdler in history to win the Olympic and World titles and break the world record. Her former world record time of 52.74 secs in 1993, still ranks in the world all-time top ten and is the current British record. She was named World and European Female Athlete of the Year in 1993, and was made an MBE in 1993 and an OBE in 1998.
Kelly Jade Sotherton is a British former heptathlete, long jumper and relay runner. In the heptathlon she was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and, following the disqualification of two other athletes, also at the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as being part of the bronze medal-winning team in the Women's 4x400m relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics. As such she is one of only five women to win multiple medals in Olympic heptathlon. She also won a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. Representing England, Sotherton is a one-time Commonwealth Games champion, as the heptathlon gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Theresa Ione Sanderson is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1984 Olympics. She was the second track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics, and the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Eunice Claudia Barber is a Sierra Leonean-French athlete competing in heptathlon and long jump. Barber initially competed for Sierra Leone and then for France from 1999 onwards. She won the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in 1999, the long jump in 2003 and finished second in heptathlon in 2003 and 2005.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is a retired British track and field athlete from England, specialising in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion, and the 2010 European champion. She is also the 2010 World Indoor pentathlon champion. A member of the City of Sheffield & Dearne athletic club, she is a former British national record holder for the heptathlon. She is also a former British record holder in the 100 metres hurdles, the high jump and the indoor pentathlon.
Jean Catherine Pickering was a female track and field athlete from Great Britain, who competed mainly in the 80 metres hurdles and long jump.
Sharon Gallen is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. She also competed in the triple jump, pentathlon and heptathlon. A winner of 22 Irish national titles, she competed in the high jump at the 1993 World Championships.
The Women's Heptathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Stadium Australia on Wednesday 23 September and Thursday 24 September.
Clova E. Court is a retired English athlete, who competed mainly in the heptathlon and the 100 metres hurdles. She represented Great Britain in the heptathlon at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She won a record five AAA Championships heptathlon tiles, and also won the 1994 AAAs Championship 100 metres hurdles title, defeating Sally Gunnell.
Kim Hagger is a retired English athlete who competed mainly in the heptathlon and the long jump. She represented Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The Women's Heptathlon at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 16 and August 17. A number of high-profile heptathletes did not feature at the competition, including defending champion Carolina Klüft and 2007 bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton, who were both injured, and Olympic silver medallist Hyleas Fountain, who failed to qualify at the national championships.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton is a retired Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Theisen-Eaton holds the Canadian record for the heptathlon with 6,808 points, as well as the indoor pentathlon with a score of 4768 points. Theisen-Eaton is a heptathlon silver medallist from the 2013 World Championships and 2015 World Championships, as well as a pentathlon silver medalist from the 2014 World Indoor Championships. She is the first and only Canadian woman to podium in the multi-events at the World Championships. Theisen-Eaton won Commonwealth Games gold in the heptathlon at Glasgow 2014 and was the 2016 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon. She also won a bronze medal as part of the women's 4 x 400 m relay at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
Yuki Nakata is a Japanese track and field athlete who competes in the women's heptathlon. She represented Japan at the 2004 Summer Olympics and has competed twice at the World Championships in Athletics. She was the silver medallist at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships and the 2010 Asian Games and has won the heptathlon at the East Asian Games and the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. With straight wins from 2002 to 2010, she is a nine time national champion and her best of 5962 points for the heptathlon is the national record for the event.
Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson is an English athlete. A multi-eventer, she is primarily known as both a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. In heptathlon she is a double world champion and double Commonwealth Games champion. In indoor pentathlon, she is a world and double European champion.
Morgan Lake is a British high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and placed fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lake finished sixth in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and fourth in the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
Yvonne Saunders-Mondesire is a Canadian former track and field athlete. A versatile athlete, she competed in women's pentathlon, long jump, high jump, 400 metres and 800 metres. She competed internationally for Canada, Jamaica, and England during her career.
Yvette Julie Wray is a female former English pentathlete, hurdler and sprinter. Born in Scraptoft, Leicestershire, she competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Moscow 1980. She also represented England at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 and 1982, winning two bronze medals.
Joanne Carol Mulliner is a female English former athlete.