PROTRACK
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
PROTRACK

A forum devoted to track events from 60m to the 2 mile. Mainly pro but also news from local, national and international sprint & middle distance competitions.

Log in

I forgot my password



Search
 
 

Display results as :
 


Rechercher Advanced Search

Latest topics
» No Maryborough in 2021
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyFri Aug 28, 2020 1:40 pm by Guest

» Incident at Bendigo with POD
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyTue Apr 28, 2020 7:13 pm by Guest

» When will Stawell 2020 be held?
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptySun Apr 12, 2020 5:18 pm by Guest

» Central Park Stawell under water
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptySat Apr 04, 2020 7:21 pm by Guest

» 80’s Stawell Footage
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptySat Apr 04, 2020 2:35 pm by Guest

» Stawell Gift postponement
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyThu Mar 19, 2020 5:02 pm by Guest

» Geelong gift cancelled
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyTue Mar 17, 2020 7:02 pm by Guest

» Death Notice Peter Cross
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyMon Mar 16, 2020 11:09 am by Youngy

» Geelong Gift
Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! EmptyThu Mar 12, 2020 8:53 pm by Guest

October 2024
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   

Calendar Calendar


You are not connected. Please login or register

Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell!

Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]

1Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! Empty Mark Lewis-Francis back from hell! Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:23 pm

Youngy


Admin
Admin

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/athletics/2010/08/12/i-ve-been-to-hell-and-back-115875-22482072/

Mark Lewis-Francis: 'I've been to hell and back'
By Alex Spink
UK Mirror
12/08/2010

Until a fortnight ago Mark Lewis-Francis was the British sprinter that time forgot.

An afterthought for selection to the 100m team for the European Athletics Championships, an extra on the set of Europe's Fastest Man starring Dwain Chambers and Christophe Lemaitre.

But then he won the silver medal behind Frenchman Lemaitre and the script had to be rewritten - as the 27-year-old became the British story.

At Crystal Palace tomorrow the comeback continues when he takes on Tyson Gay, the slayer of Usain Bolt, in the Aviva London Grand Prix. Only one of them has an Olympic gold medal and it is not the American. Yet in the six years since Athens and his sprint relay glory, Lewis-Francis has plumbed the depths of despair.

"I was in a very, very dark place," he said of a spiral of misfortune which began with a torn Achilles tendon and led to him losing his lottery funding.


"You kind of shut off from the outside world and retreat into a cave. You can't watch any athletics because any that you do watch really hurts.

"I was in a really bad way and when I did come back, I was beaten by everybody.

"I never thought of giving up.


Athletics is my life. I've been doing it since I was 13. I love competing, I love the adrenalin on the starting line.

"The big question for me was always 'Can I get back to where I was?'. It was that doubt which was the scariest part of all."

It was Linford Christie, Britain's former Olympic 100m champion, who made him believe again and through careful coaching, inspired him to last month's silver heroics.

And it was Christie who had Lewis-Francis back in training within a day of him arriving back from Barcelona.

"There's still a lot of work to do," said the 'Darlaston Dart', who was at fault for the British team's elimination from the sprint relay only days after his own medal run.

"This is just the start, the sky is the limit for me, but I'm not getting ahead of myself.

"I am aiming for the Commonwealth Games and, before that, I want to run a quick time at Crystal Palace.

"I know I'm in shape to go out there and do that. But I'm not quite in the league of Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt or even Tyson Gay. Not yet.

"I'm a realist. After all the stuff I have been through, that's the way it has to be."

Lewis-Francis factfile


BORN: Sept 4, 1982

2000: Wins world junior gold in the 100m.

2001: Takes world indoor bronze in the 60m; runs 100m in junior record time of 9.97 but faulty wind gauge means time is not ratified.

2002: Wins European indoor silver (60m).

2004: Wins Olympic gold in 4x100m relay.

2005: Tests positive for cannabis after the European indoors in Madrid and stripped of the 60m silver.
Blames it on passive smoking.
Wins world championships bronze in the 4x100m relay.

2007: Bronze in world championships (4x100m relay).

2009: Stripped of lottery funding by UK Athletics

2010: Wins 100m silver in Barcelona.

https://protrack.forumotion.com

Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum