Denise Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British

sports presenter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

and former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, who specialised in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

. She won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

in the heptathlon at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, was twice

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 ex ...

champion, was the 1998 European Champion and won

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

silver medals in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. 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. This is a former British record and ranks her third on the all-time British lists behind

Katarina Johnson-Thompson Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English athlete primarily known as an elite multi-eventer, both as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. She has been World Champion in both disciplines, and a double Commonwealth ...

and Jessica Ennis-Hill. Lewis was honoured as

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...

. Since retiring from athletics, she has undertaken various television and media work and is now a regular athletics pundit for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

, including during

London 2012 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, th ...

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and

Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Olympic career

2000 Olympics

The first day of the 2000 Summer Olympics heptathlon was 23 September. In the first event, Lewis recorded 13.23 seconds for the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

to be in second place behind the world champion, Eunice Barber, who had finished in 12.97 seconds.

Ghada Shouaa Ghada Shouaa ( ar, غادة شعاع; born September 10, 1972) 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 consi ...

, the 1996 Olympic champion, pulled out after only 20 metres of her heat. After a poor performance in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

of only 1.75 m, 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 The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's c ...

, Lewis recorded a distance of 15.55 m, placing her second, 30 points behind Natallia Sazanovich and 45 points ahead of former world champion

Sabine Braun Sabine Braun (born 19 June 1965 in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former athlete in track and field. Because she had talents in several disciplines, Sabine Braun competed in the heptathlon and had a number of successes ...

. Barber's distance of 11.27 m put her in eighth place. In the final event of the day, the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, Lewis recorded a time of 24.34 sec. Sabine 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: # Natallia Sazanovich, BLR: 3,903 # Natalya Roshchupkina, RUS: 3,872 # Denise Lewis, GBR: 3,852 #

Urszula Włodarczyk Urszula Włodarczyk (; born 22 December 1965 in Wałbrzych) is a retired Polish heptathlete. She also competed briefly in triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and ...

, POL: 3,805 # Yelena Prokhorova, RUS: 3,771 # Sabine Braun, GER: 3,770 # Eunice Barber,

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

: 3,707 # Karin Specht-Ertl, GER: 3,697 The first event on the second day was the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

. Lewis's best jump was 6.48 m, marginally behind Yelena Prokhorova and Sazanovich. Eunice Barber, struggling with injury, withdrew after this event. In event six, the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with the ...

, Lewis achieved a throw of 50.19 m. 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 The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

, Lewis ran with the lower part of her left leg bandaged due to a calf and

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ...

injury, aiming to stay close enough to the race leaders to maintain her points advantage. Prokhorova won the race convincingly and when Lewis crossed the line behind Sazanovich it was not, at first, clear if Lewis's time of 2:16.83 was enough to retain first place. After the individual points had been calculated, it was announced, that Lewis had won with a total of 6,584 points. Prokhorova was second with 6,531 (53 points behind Lewis) and Sazanovich was third with 6,527 (4 points behind Prokhorova).

2004 Olympics

At the 2004 Olympics, Lewis was suffering from a number of injuries and withdrew from the competition after the long jump. Teammate and training partner

Kelly Sotherton Kelly Jade Sotherton (born 13 November 1976) 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, a ...

took bronze.

Statistics

Personal bests

Seasonal bests

International competitions

National titles

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offici ...

**Long jump:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

AAA Indoor Championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fol ...

**60 m hurdles:

**Long jump:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

**Shot put:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

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

AAA Junior Championships AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and m ...

**Heptathlon (under-17): 1988 **Long jump: 1989 * British Schools International Match **Long jump: 1988 *English Schools Championships **Long jump: 1986 (junior), 1987 (intermediate)

Circuit wins

* Décastar: 2000

Awards and recognition

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

In the

, Lewis was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), having already been appointed MBE in the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

. In 2000, she was also presented with the

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

of the

City of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. In 2010, Lewis was inducted into the

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

Sporting Hall of Fame, while in 2011, she was then inducted into the

England Athletics Hall of Fame The England Athletics Hall of Fame was launched in 2008 with a panel of experts selecting a list of potential inductees for athletics fans and members of the public to vote on. The Hall of Fame honours those who have made an outstanding contribut ...

. In 2013, Lewis was honoured at the annual Wolverhampton Famous Sons & Daughters Awards ceremony. In 2014, she was presented with an honorary degree from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

. With Dame Kelly Holmes,

Christine Ohuruogu Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu , MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is a former Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion. The Olympic champion in 2008, and ...

and

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Marath ...

, Lewis enjoys acclamation as one of the "golden girls" of British athletics and, in 1998 and 2000 has been runner up in the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been ...

. In 2003, Lewis was put forward as a candidate in the BBC Midlands great midlander of all-time award but lost out to eventual winner

Reginald Mitchell Reginald Joseph Mitchell (20 May 189511 June 1937) was a British aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1916 until 1936. He is best remembered for designing racing seaplanes such as the Supermarine ...

the inventor of the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

. Lewis was voted "Sportswoman of the Year" by the

Sports Journalists' Association The Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) is an association for British sports journalists. It represents the British sports media on the British Olympic Association's press advisory committee and acts as a consultant to organizers of major events ...

(SJA) in 1997, 1998 and 2000, a joint-record three times, while also being named as runner up in 1996. She was selected as "Female Athlete of the Year" by the British Athletics Writers' Association (BAWA) four times, in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000. Lewis won the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' " Sportswoman of the Year" a record three times, in 1994, 1998 and 2000. At the inaugural British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) in 2015, Lewis became the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her British and Commonwealth record of 6831 points was set on 30 July 2000 in

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

, France. As of 2013, she ranks 15th in the

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

all-time list. In 2002, Lewis' Olympic victory was ranked 90th in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

100 Greatest Sporting Moments ''100 Greatest'' is a long-running TV strand on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom that has been broadcasting from 11 September 1999 to 10 October 2015, originating in Tyne Tees Television’s Factual Features department under Executive Producer Ma ...

. In 2010, Lewis was made a Patron of the Jaguar Academy of Sport. Outside of her sports achievements, Lewis was included in the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

edition of the

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons.

Television career

Punditry and presenting

Since 2009, Lewis has acted as a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside f ...

's athletics coverage and she has covered major live events including the

2009 World Athletics Championships The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

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, th ...

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. On 2 February 2015, Lewis guest hosted an episode of ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...

'' with Matt Baker. Lewis has also been a presenter on various non-sports television programmes. In July 2015, Lewis co-hosted ''Right on the Money'', a daytime series, alongside

Dominic Littlewood Dominic Littlewood (born 29 March 1965), known as Dom Littlewood, is a British journalist and television presenter who specialises in consumer protection. He is best known for his roles with BBC and Channel 5, presenting programmes such as ' ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. The programme returned for a second series in July 2016. From 22 July 2011, Lewis hosted children's reality television show ''

Camp Orange ''Camp Orange'' was an Australian children's reality television show broadcast on Nickelodeon. The first season premiered in February 2005. The latest season, Camp Orange: Twisted Siblings, premiered on 27 June 2015. The format has been adapt ...

''. She is a presenter of the BBC's ''

Secret Britain ''Secret Britain'' is a BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th boar ...

'' (series 3 onwards) which introduces lesser-known aspects of the British countryside.

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2004, Lewis took part in the BBC dancing competition, ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''. She was partnered with professional dancer Ian Waite and in the first few weeks scored the highest number of points with the judges. She eventually reached the final and was runner-up to actress Jill Halfpenny. After this, Lewis and the two other partners from the final danced at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

. Ten days after competing in the ''Strictly Come Dancing'' final, Lewis and Waite competed again in the ''Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions Special'', where 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 Since the inception of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2004, several special editions of the show have been transmitted by the BBC each year. These have included seasonal specials, charity specials, and variations of the ''Strictly Come Dancing'' ...

, partnered with

Anton du Beke Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One celebrity dancing sh ...

The Masked Dancer

In October 2022, Lewis was unmasked in

series 2 Series 2 could refer to: * Apple Watch Series 2, a smart watch by Apple * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 2, the automobile model * BMW 2 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 2 series, line of nV ...

of The Masked Dancer as Sea Slug.

TV guest appearances

* ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The program ...

'' (2009) * ''

All Star Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show '' Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, ''All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 t ...

'' (2009) * ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers t ...

'' with her father-in-law, Tom O'Connor (2011) * '' The Cube'' on ITV (2012) * ''

Your Face Sounds Familiar ''Your Face Sounds Familiar'' ( Spanish: ''Tu cara me suena'') is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series ''Soundmixshow'', was ...

'' (2013) * '' Big Star's Little Star'' with her son Ryan (2014) * ''

Give a Pet a Home ''Give a Pet a Home'' is a factual British television show that was presented by Amanda Holden. The series aired for six episodes from 15 April until 20 May 2015. Format The six-part series was filmed at an RSPCA animal centre in Birmingham. T ...

'' a series which worked alongside the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

in Birmingham (2015) * ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

'' in a sketch with Idris Elba playing Luther (2016) * '' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (2017) * ''

Hairy Bikers The Hairy Bikers are collectively David Myers and Si King. The pair of British celebrity chefs have presented numerous television shows, mostly for the BBC but also for the Good Food channel, that combine cooking with a motorcycling trav ...

Home for Christmas'' (2017) * '' All Star Musicals'' (2017) * '' Would I Lie to You'' (2018)

Personal life

Born on 27 August 1972 in West Bromwich to Jamaican-born parents, Lewis grew up in

Pendeford Pendeford is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is situated north-north-west of the city centre, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council. At the 2011 Census, the population o ...

and was educated at the Regis School in

Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives fr ...

, later to become the King's School. A £1 million sports hall was later built there and named in her honour. Lewis was in a relationship with

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

sprinter Patrick Stevens from the late 1990s until 2005. From that relationship, Lewis 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 Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...

and son of comedian Tom O'Connor. They have three sons.

References

External links

*
Homepage of Birchfield HarriersUKA Hall of Fame Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Denise 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Wolverhampton English heptathletes British heptathletes British female athletes English female athletes English Olympic medallists Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Birchfield Harriers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Black British sportswomen English people of Jamaican descent The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners