Tamsyn Carolyn Lewis (born 20 July 1978) is an Australian media personality and former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who won a total of eighteen

Australian Championships The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held be ...

across the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, 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 a ...

and 400 m hurdles. She first represented Australia in 1994, and won the

in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.IAAF – Believe it, Tamsyn
/ref>

Personal life

Lewis was born and raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria and attended Methodist Ladies' College and

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield Grammar began admitting girls exactly ...

. Her mother

Carolyn Wright Carolyn Jean Lewis (née Wright; born 16 January 1946) is an Australian former athlete who competed in the high jump. She competed for the Novacastrians club in Newcastle and the Ryde Athletics Club in Sydney. Upon marriage she moved to Melbour ...

was a six-time national

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 ...

champion, while her father, Greg Lewis, was a semi-finalist in 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 slight ...

at the Summer 1968 Olympics. She married

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er Graham Manou in 2011.

Athletics career

Lewis emerged onto the national athletics scene in 1994, winning several events at the Australian Championships: the Under-16 100 m/200 m double and the Under-20 400 m. After these performances she was chosen, aged 15, for the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

as a

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

runner, though she did not eventually compete in the event. Her next international selection was for the 1996 World Junior Championships in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where she won a bronze medal as part of the Australian 4 × 400 metres relay team. In 1998, Lewis moved up to the 800 metres, winning the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and gaining a place in the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

team. Though she did not win a medal in the 800 metres, she contributed to Australia's gold medal winning 4 × 400 metres relay team. She next ran internationally in the 800 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1999 World Indoor Championships in

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It was ...

, where she set an Australian indoor record of 2:02.42 in her individual event and again won a medal as part of Australia's 4 × 400 metres relay team. Leading up to the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, Lewis set new personal bests in the 400 and 800 metres to qualify for the Australian team. At the Olympics, she missed the Olympic final in the 800 metres by less than a tenth of a second, but ran in Australia's 4 × 400 metres relay team which set two national records. In the following years, Lewis did not improve her personal best performances and gained a reputation as an underachiever in international competitions. She stopped running the 800 metres in 2005 to focus on the 400 metres and develop her speed. She competed only in the 400 metres at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

, where she missed making the final, and in the 4 × 400 metres relay event, where she won her third successive gold medal amidst a major controversy, as part of the victorious Australian quartet. In 2007 Lewis made a return to the 800 metres under new coach, and brother, Justin Lewis, winning the national championships, placing in several European Meetings and qualifying for the 2007 World Championships, where she finished fourth in her heat in 2:01.21 and again missed the final. Lewis enjoyed a return to her best form in early 2008, remaining undefeated over 400 metres and 800 metres in Australia.Athletics Gold – 2008 season
/ref> She ran a personal best time of 51.44 to win the national 400 metres titles and comfortably retained her 800 metres crown. These performances earned Lewis selection in her third consecutive Australian Olympic team. At the 2008 World Indoor Championships, held in

Valencia, Spain Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Lewis qualified for the final by running an Australian record of 2:01.85 in her heat. In a tactical final, Lewis broke away from perennial champion Maria de Lurdes Mutola and Ukrainian Tetiana Petlyuk to win the gold medal in a major upset.IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 800 metres
/ref> Lewis said "I was wondering what I was doing out there. Then I realised that I could win the race. This is amazing. I still can't believe it." Lewis represented Australia at the

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

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Here she made the semi-final of the 800 metres and narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-final of the 400 metres. At the 2009 Australian Championships, Lewis won both the 400 metres and the 400 m hurdles. Over her athletics career, Lewis won a total of 18 national titles, and her coaches included Peter Fortune ( Cathy Freeman's coach),

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...

and

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competit ...

Relay teams

Lewis won a number of international medals in the 4 × 400 m relay: * At the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, Lewis, Rosemary Hayward, Josephine Fowley and Jennifer Marshall won a bronze medal, recording a time of 3:32.47. * At the 1999 World Indoor Championships in

, Lewis combined with Susan Andrews, Tania Van-Heer and Cathy Freeman to win a silver medal in an Australian record of 3:26.87. *Lewis is also a three-time gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games 4 × 400 m relay event. * At Kuala Lumpur 1998, Lewis joined Lee Naylor, Tania Van-Heer and Susan Andrews to win in a time of 3:27.28. * At Manchester 2002, Lewis ran the third leg in a team which featured Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman,

Lauren Hewitt Lauren Katherine Hewitt (born 25 November 1978) is a track and field sprinter from Australia. She competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996, and won the bronze medal in the women's 200 metres at the 1998 Commonwe ...

and, anchoring, 400 m hurdles champion Jana Pittman. Lewis leg saw Australia move from second into first place, and their time was a Games record 3:25.63. * At Melbourne 2006, Lewis and her teammates Pittman, Caitlin Willis and Rosemary Hayward were second across the line being beaten by England; again Lewis had run the third leg. After consultation with her fellow runners, both Lewis and Pittman informed officials of a rule breach by England's Natasha Danvers (IAAF Rule 170 – Item 9), which the officials had already noted. England was subsequently disqualified and Australia awarded the gold medal; the time 3:28.66. Afterwards, Australian track legend

Ron Clarke Ronald William Clarke, Officer of the Order of Australia, AO, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (21 February 1937 – 17 June 2015) was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one o ...

called on the Australian team to return their gold medal.

Media career

Lewis began her media career with

radio station

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

, as part of the 'Dead Set Legends' crew, in 2005. In 2006, she appeared on the Australian television series ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Partnered by Arsen Kishishian, Lewis finished third. From December 2007, with Jules Lund and Ryan Shelton, Lewis presented the ''Summer Fling'' breakfast show across the Austereo Today Network. Lewis and

Bruce McAvaney Bruce William McAvaney (born 22 June 1953) is an Australian sports broadcaster with the Seven Network. McAvaney has presented high-profile events including the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, Test cricket and both Winter and S ...

presented the athletics track events for the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and at the 2021 Summer Olympics in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Controversies

In 2004, Lewis posed in bikinis for ''

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

'' magazine, prompting criticism from the media for losing focus on her preparation for the Athens Olympics. After Lewis failed to progress past the heats of her individual event, the 800 metres, she and her coaches defended the photoshoot saying it was undertaken in five hours on one day and was not to blame for her result. In February 2006, Lewis and fellow Australian runner Jana Pittman were involved in a public feud after the Australian athletics trials for the

. Pittman, in answer to a media question following her heat win, had stated she had "no competition" in Australia; Lewis responded "I was standing behind the blocks or the finalgoing, 'I'll give you no competition, bitch.'" in a radio interview after she won the final with Pittman finishing last. The media later described their relationship as a "catfight" and a "bitchfight." In the 29 May 2006 edition of Australian "Zoo Weekly" magazine, Lewis again posed in what Nova 100 afternoon DJ's described as "incredibly racy" lingerie. In the accompanying article, Lewis went into detail about her relationship with Jana Pittman and the furore caused over comments by Pittman that the team should all return their medals. In the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics she stated she would be running against drug cheats: "I have no doubts that when I line up next week, I will look left and right and know the other girls aren't all clean".

Statistics

Personal bests

Australian Championships titles

Yearly progression

References

External links

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile fo
Tamsyn Manou
*
Tamsyn Lewis – personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manou, Tamsyn 1978 births Olympic athletes for Australia Australian female sprinters Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Sportswomen from Victoria (state) People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Living people World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes from Melbourne World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics