Denise Lewis lines up comeback

Olympic champion Denise Lewis is expected to hit the comeback trail by contesting her first heptathlon since claiming victory in Sydney at the European Cup Combined Events meeting in July.

Her coach Frank Dick, who was in charge of the British athletics teams during their most successful ever period on the global stage in the 1980s, believes it will be all systems go for Lewis in Tallinn, Estonia, on July 5.

Determined to have a crack at finally winning the IAAF World title after finishing runner-up in 1997 and again two years later, Lewis is once again in full training to make the British team for Paris in August.

But much will depend on how the 30-year-old performs in the Baltic city, where her major aim is to gain the qualifying standard of 6,105 points.

An impressive performance against a field which will include last summer’s World junior and European senior gold medallist Carolina Kluft is vital to convince Lewis she should line-up in the Stade de France.

But Dick believes a fired-up Lewis will come up trumps despite not having contested a heptathlon since her Olympic success, and not competing at all last year after becoming a mother and suffering a series of injuries.

Dick, who took over as coach when Dutchman Charles van Commenee surprisingly quit last July, said: “You have to take into account there has been a total change of lifestyle since Denise won the Olympic gold medal.

“She’s had an operation on her foot, suffers persistent abdominal problems and pains in both her back and shoulders, and of course had baby Lauren last April.

“But her training indicates everything is on song and I think she’ll be okay to get back into top form, although it will take time.

“The jumping events in particular have seen a lot of wear-and-tear on her body. But she is determined and resolute to fight her way back.”

Lewis, who commutes between her north London home and Belgium, where her partner, top Belgian sprinter Patrick Stevens, lives, missed the defence of her Commonwealth and European titles last summer.

But, according to Dick, that has made her even hungrier and he has been delighted with her progress since coming under his wing.