LONDON, 30 June 2005 — Denise Lewis, Olympic heptathlon gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, has quit athletics.

The 32-year-old had been expected to compete at both the World Championships in six weeks and chase a third title in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March.

Lewis claimed her first major title at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and retained the title four years later in Kuala Lumpur.

The victory in Malaysia came only weeks after winning the European title in Budapest and the following year, as she shrugged off injury problems, she finished runner-up at the World Championships.

Then came her Olympic Games success in Sydney, where she battled against a recurring Achilles injury, which at one stage looked like preventing her from completing the competition. Lewis has been hit by injury since and it was three years before she contested her next competition, finishing fifth at the World Championships.

She has not competed this year and although she claimed she wanted to compete in August’s World Championships, she had not attained the qualifying standard of 6,100 points.

“I don’t come to major decisions quickly, especially when they are life-changing,” she said yesterday. “I have thought it through and I am clear. I am sitting here and I am happy. I am thinking about my future and it is a future that does not include participating in athletics.”

Holmes Forced Out of Ireland City Games

Britain’s double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes has pulled out of Saturday’s Ireland City Games in Cork due to an Achilles’ tendon injury.

Holmes is still suffering from the problem that prevented her from running in the recent European Cup First League match in Portugal.

Her manager Jeff Fund claimed the injury is not serious, though, and that her withdrawal is merely a precautionary measure.

“Getting ready for August and the World Championships is the most important thing and Kelly is being wise rather than running when she isn’t quite ready,” said Fund.

The injury flared up when Holmes won her only outdoor race of the summer earlier this month in Glasgow. Her absence will be a blow to the Cork meeting’s organizers as Holmes’ fame and stock has risen considerably since her victories in the 800m and 1500m at the Olympics.