|
60 CLASSIC MOMENTS - No. 29
British heroine defies injuries to see off Sydney Olympic rivals FOR 28-year-old Denise Lewis, the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games provided her toughest challenge to date. The British athlete had been plagued by cruel injuries and had not high jumped since her silver medal-winning display at the 1999 Seville World Championships. Despite the interrupted preparations for her second Olympic Games (she collected bronze in Atlanta in 1996), Lewis smashed the Commonwealth record in July and looked forward to an exciting clash with Eunice Barber, of France, the reigning world champion. Her Dutch coach, Charles van Commenee, had predicted an open heptathlon. However, he had not anticipated such a rollercoaster of a competition. The Frenchwoman generally had the upper hand over Lewis, although the shot put and javelin, her weakest events, were Lewis’s strongest.
Full story in issue 59-32, 10th August 2005.
|
|
|
Lewis
hobbles round in 800m to secure the gold
