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1996 was a memorable year for Denise Lewis. It began in May when she
finally broke Judy Simpson's ten year old heptathlon record with a new
score of 6,645 points - the second highest total in the World that year.
It ended in August when she won her first Olympic medal. Gotzis was the
venue of her record-breaking heptathlon and there she added 22pts to
Simpson's UK record, whilst finishing second to Ghada Shouaa (6,942
points). Denise encountered Ghada again in Atlanta at the Olympic Games
where the Syrian won the gold medal with 6780pts - the first athlete
from her country to win an Olympic gold in any sport.
Denise
actually won the bronze medal by just 5pts (6,489) just ahead of Poland's
Urszula Wlodarczyk, with the silver going to Maya Sazanovich of
Belarus. 1997 was a similar year, beginning with a UK record and ending
with a major championship medal. In June she added 91pts to her year-old
UK record, with a new score of 6736 and then set her sights on the
World Championships in Athens. Had Denise even been able to reproduce
her UK record in Greece she still would have lost to the eventual
champion, Sabine Braun of Germany. As it was Denise's score of 6654
still gained her the silver medal behind Braun's 6,739. The German, who
won the title in 1991, was seven years older than the British woman
indicating that Denise still had time on her side in her quest for a
'Major' (Olympics/Worlds). (George Herringshaw)
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