| The Pain Game. Tamsyn Lewis is glad Olympic greats are making her life hell DURING a recent training session with Olympic great Daley Thompson, Tamsyn Lewis gritted her teeth as the pain spread through her body and muttered: "I'm not afraid of death." That comment gives an insight into the intensive training regime Australia's No. 1 800m runner is putting herself through to ensure she can make it on the world stage. It is now almost 18 months since Lewis raised eyebrows when she announced she was teaming up with two of the biggest names in track and field, Thompson and Sebastian Coe, in a long-distance coaching arrangement. She knows the move had many critics, but after initial teething problems, Lewis is confident she is on a winner. "Last year was a learning year with the new coaches, this year is pretty full-on," Lewis explains. "I love it. It has been the best decision I have ever made in athletics. They are the best coaches, they have been there and done that, so you trust everything they say. "They are also great guys and I have total faith in them, which is something I have never had before." Thompson travelled to Australia last month for some first-hand tuition, while Coe will be here later this month. "The intensity is different and there is a lot of stuff I'm doing that I don't think I've seen any other athlete do before," Lewis said. "Things like jumping up and down on one leg on pole vault mats and just the circuits and drills are really hard. I'm doing stuff that will make me a lot harder than I have been before, doing more miles and more miles of intensity. "I have run a 1500m this season and even a 4km road race. There is no way I would have done that before." While Lewis hasn't been beaten by a fellow Australian on her home turf for more than four years, she has failed to deliver her promise to break Charlene Rendina's long-standing national mark of 1min 59.0sec, set in 1976. Her domination of the local scene has also failed to translate internationally. Lewis finished fifth at last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester, while at the 2000 Sydney Olympics she missed making the final by a whisker. "My biggest problem in the past has been that I don't finish my races off as well as I should overseas," she said. "Those girls are really strong, and I put all my effort into the first 600m to be with them, and then all of a sudden they start racing and I'm like, `See you later'. "So obviously it is not a speed thing because I can keep up with them, but it is a strength thing. "Daley and Seb have said if I do all this hard background work now, even if it costs me in the Australian summer season, I'll be better for it in the middle of the year." While she is making no rash predictions like in previous years, Lewis, 24, knows that if everything goes according to plan, as it has so far this year, Rendina's record will go in Europe as part of her preparation for the Paris world championships in August. "I definitely think I will do it (Australian record) overseas this year," Lewis said. "I'm just doing so much hard work now that if I don't, I might as well quit. I can't do any more than what I am doing at the moment." While Thompson was impressed with Lewis's progress on his visit, there was one part of her make-up that concerns him - her love of motor bikes. Every opportunity she gets, Lewis heads to Bendigo and the family property of her boyfriend, Kangaroos footballer Leigh Colbert, where her Honda XR250 dirt bike lives. "I have always liked bikes, ever since I was little," Lewis said. "Ever since my Grandma told me how she came home from the school formal on the back of a motorbike and ripped her dress. "She told me that when I was about three, and ever since I kept thinking that's cool. If Granny can ride a bike, I can ride a bike." Motorbikes will be the fur thest thing from Lewis's mind tonight at Olympic Park as she faces a serious challenge to her unbeaten run at the Telstra A-series meeting. Former 400m runner Susan Andrews pushed Lewis to within a 10th of a second last weekend in Canberra. While Lewis already has her A-standard qualifying time for Paris, Andrews is desperate to get under the 2min mark. "I really think Susan will do it this season, and that's great for me because the quicker she runs, the better for me," Lewis said. "I haven't had that sort of pressure before, or not for a long time at least." By Scott Guillan The Herald Sun, 1st March 2003 |