Tamsyn Carolyn Lewis (born 20 July 1978) is an Australian media personality and former track and field athlete who won a total of eighteen Australian Championships across the 400 metres, 800 metres and 400 m hurdles. She first represented Australia in 1994, and won the 800 metres in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

Personal life

Lewis was born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria and attended Methodist Ladies' College and Caulfield Grammar School. Her mother Carolyn Wright was a six-time national high jump champion, while her father, Greg Lewis, was a semi-finalist in the 200 metres at the Summer 1968 Olympics. She married Australian cricketer 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 as a 4 × 400 metres relay runner, though she did not eventually compete in the event. Her next international selection was for the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, 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 and gaining a place in the 1998 Commonwealth Games 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 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, 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. She ran a personal best time of 51.44 to win the national 400 metres titles and comfortably retained her 800 metres crown. 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."

Media career

Lewis began her media career with Melbourne radio station Triple M, as part of the 'Dead Set Legends' crew, in 2005.

In 2006, she appeared on the Australian television series Dancing with the Stars. 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 presented the athletics track events for the Seven Network at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Controversies

In 2004, Lewis posed in bikinis for Ralph 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 2006 Commonwealth Games. 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 [for the final] going, '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

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Event

! Time

! Place

! Date

|-

| 400 m || 51.42 || Brisbane, Australia || 20 March 2009

|-

| 400 m hurdles || 56.27 || Brisbane, Australia || 21 March 2009

|-

| 800 m || 1:59.21 || Canberra, Australia || 15 January 2000

|-

| 800 m indoor|| 2:01.85 || Valencia, Spain || 7 March 2008

|}

Australian Championships titles

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! 400 m

! 800 m

! 400 m Hurdles

|-

| 1998 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 1999 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 2000 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 2001 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 2002 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 2003 || – || 1 || –

|-

| 2004 || – || 2 (1st Australian)|| –

|-

| 2005 || 1 || – || –

|-

| 2006 || 2 (1st Australian) || – || –

|-

| 2007 || 1 || 1 || –

|-

| 2008 || 1 || 1 || –

|-

| 2009 || 1 || – || 1

|-

| 2010 || 4 (3rd Australian) || – || 2

|-

| 2011 || 1 || 1 || –

|-

| 2012 || - || 1 || –

|}

Yearly progression

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! 400 m

! 800 m

! 400 m Hurdles

|-

| 1993 || 54.84 || – || –

|-

| 1994 || 52.90 || – || –

|-

| 1995 || 53.01 || – || –

|-

| 1996 || 53.34 || – || –

|-

| 1997 || – || – || –

|-

| 1998 || 52.60 || 2:01.71 || –

|-

| 1999 || 52.58 || 2:00.95 || –

|-

| 2000 || 51.51 || 1:59.21 || –

|-

| 2001 || 53.07 || 2:00.86 || –

|-

| 2002 || 52.21 || 1:59.73 || –

|-

| 2003 || 52.85 || 1:59.35 || –

|-

| 2004 || 53.72 || 2:00.96 || –

|-

| 2005 || 52.44 || 2:11.37 || –

|-

| 2006 || 52.36 || 2:06.52 || –

|-

| 2007 || 51.71 || 1:59.37 || –

|-

| 2008 || 51.44 || 1:59.43 || –

|-

| 2009 || 51.42 || – || 56.27

|}

See also

  • List of Caulfield Grammar School people

References

  • IAAF profile for Tamsyn Manou
  • Tamsyn Lewis – personal website