Denise Lewis
Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis, DBE (born 27 August 1972) is a British former heptathlete and current sports administrator and presenter. She specialized in the heptathlon, a seven-event track-and-field competition, and is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest female multi-eventers.
She won Olympic gold in the heptathlon at Sydney in 2000, becoming the first European to win the Olympic heptathlon. She also earned Olympic bronze in 1996 and later retired from competition in 2005. Her other major achievements include Commonwealth Games gold in 1994 and 1998, European Championship gold in 1998, and World Championship silver medals in 1997 and 1999. Her personal best score is 6,831 points, set in 2000 at Décastar, a British record at the time and still among the top British marks.
Lewis has been honoured with national awards for her contributions to sport: MBE in 1999, OBE in 2001, and DBE in 2023. She also received the Freedom of the City of Wolverhampton in 2000 and has been inducted into several halls of fame.
After retiring, she worked as a television pundit for BBC Sport, covering major events including multiple Olympic Games. In 2023 she became President of UK Athletics, the governing body for the sport in Britain, and since the same year has served as President of Commonwealth Games England. She stepped down from some BBC duties after the 2024 Games to focus on these roles.
Born in West Bromwich to Jamaican-born parents and raised in Wolverhampton, Lewis is known for her pioneering spirit in British athletics. She has one daughter with former partner Patrick Stevens and, in 2006, married Steve Finan O’Connor; they have three sons.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:45 (CET).