Lewis wins World Indoor title with shock win

In a result described as a “seismic shock” by the IAAF, the 29-year-old raced to the lead when a gap opened up with 350m remaining and despite being headed by Ukraine’s Tetiana Petlyuk in the last lap, Lewis fought back to claim the biggest win of her long career.

"When I saw that gap, I said to myself if I'm going to go down it might as well be in spectacular fashion, so I took it and from then on everything went perfectly,” an amazed Lewis said after the race.

“I am in complete shock. I was happy to be in the final and then take whatever came from then on.

“But this probably wasn't in the script. It's amazing.”

Despite going into the final as the sixth ranked qualifier Lewis was simply too good in the finishing straight, lifting as she had done in the concluding stages of her Australian championship victories over 400m and 800m the previous weekend in Brisbane.

The race was billed as a battle between Maria Mutola and Mayte Martinez.  Mutola the Mozambique superstar bidding for an unprecedented eighth World Indoor 800m title and the Spanish favourite Martinez, the 2003 World Indoor bronze medallist.

Lewis was able to defeat the duo, and the fastest qualifier Petlyuk to become Australia’s fourth World Indoor champion (see fact box below), winning in 2:02.52.  Petlyuk was second in 2:02.66 with Mutola, in her final competitive season, third in 2:02.97. Martinez was fourth with 2:03.51.

Despite more than a decade of competing on the international scene since her debut as a 16-year-old at the Commonwealth Games in 1994, this championship has seen Lewis with a level of confidence and command of her tactics not previously seen before in international meets.

“My coach (brother Justin) and I decided I should come here to get more racing against the top girls, and to ensure I did that my aim was to get out of the heat. When I did, I guess my self belief and confidence just grew and grew," Lewis said.

Lewis became only the fourth athlete ever to win the 800m title in 12 editions of the championships. Mutola with seven wins, East German Christine Wachtel with three gold medals and Czech Ludmila Formanova in 1999 being the other champions. 

Australian medallists at the World Indoor Championships