Steven ("Steve") James Lewis (born 20 May 1986) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er. His personal best jump of 5.82 metres, set in July 2012, is the former British record for the event. Indoors his best is 5.77 m, achieved in Dessau on 2 March 2012. Lewis was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, and he attended Holden Lane High School. Originally a hurdler, he switched to pole vaulting. Lewis finished in fourth place at the

2009 European Indoor Championships The 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Turin, Italy, from Friday, 6 March to Sunday, 8 March 2009. The championships took place at the Oval Lingotto indoor arena

with jump of 5.71 m, which resulted in British head coach

Charles van Commenee #REDIRECT Charles van Commenee #REDIRECT Charles van Commenee {{R from other capitalisation Redirects from other capitalisations ... {{R from other capitalisation Redirects from other capitalisations ...

praising his development. He represented Great Britain at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and is a three-time medalist for England at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He has participated at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

on five occasions (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015) and was a finalist on multiple occasions. He has been a finalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships three times. Lewis achieved a personal best and broke the British record of 5.80 m set by Nick Buckfield in 1998, with a vault of 5.82 m at the 2012

Janusz Kusociński Memorial The Janusz Kusociński Memorial (Polish: ''Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego'') is an annual track and field meeting at different venues in Poland, in recent times at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland. The meeting was first held in 1954 i ...

in Szczecin, Poland. He competed in the

, finishing in fourth place with a vault of 5.75 m, becoming Britain's most successful men's pole vault Olympian. In 2014, he won the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

title, completing a full set of Commonwealth medals. Injured in 2016 Lewis missed the Rio Olympic Qualification Standard and retired in early 2017 in Reno, Nevada. Lewis is considered the most successful British pole-vaulter of all time after representing Great Britain in major championship finals consistently over a 12-year period, winning 13 national titles, breaking junior and senior records, and winning international medals.

Competition record

References

External links

* 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Stoke-on-Trent English male pole vaulters British male pole vaulters Olympic male pole vaulters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub