| SCD Tour - Denise Lewis |
| Sunday, 04 November 2007 08:47 | |||
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Her greatest triumph was winning a gold medal for the Heptathlon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In her early years Lewis enjoyed singing in her local choir and studied ballet and tap-dancing. After joining the Birchfield Harriers and competing in several events, it became apparent that the Heptathlon should be her chosen event. In the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Denise Lewis took her first major International title winning the womens heptathlon competition ahead of the favourite, Australian Jane Flemming. Two years later, in 1996, Denise broke the British record that had stood for ten years. And later the same year she went on to win a Bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics, the only British female to win a medal in these Games. This was her first Olympic medal. In 1997 Lewis improved further by breaking her own British record and the Commonwealth record in her event, before adding a silver medal to her collection at the World Championships in Athens. In 1998, after winning both the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, Denise was runner up in BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Denise was awarded an MBE at the beginning of 1999 and later that year won the silver medal at the World Championships in Seville. Denise broke her own British record again in 2000, prior to the Olympic Games. The highlight of Lewis career came at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 when despite an injured Achilles tendon she went on to win the heptathlon making her the 6th British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the history of Track and Field. She came second to Sir Steven Redgrave in the Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2000 and in early 2001 she was awarded an OBE from the Queen. In 2004, Denise came second in the BBCs Strictly Come Dancing, with her professional dance partner Ian Waite. Denise retired from competing in May 2005 and has since built a career as a sports presenter and reporter. She has commentated on athletics championships for the BBC, reported for BBC Midlands Today and also co-presented a ten-week series for UKTV Sport with John Inverdale. She is a regular guest on television panel shows and sports programmes. In June 2005 Denise was an Ambassador for Londons successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and continues to lend her support London 2012. Denise is the Sporting Ambassador for Breast Cancer Care. Denise published her autobiography, PERSONAL BEST, in 2001 with Century and her exercise book THE FLAT TUMMY BOOK will be published by Quercus in 2007 Source
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