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Sydney gold medalist Lewis quits
 Golden girl. Lewis reached the peak of her career at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. LONDON, England -- Britain's gold medal winning heptathlete Denise Lewis has quit athletics after battling injuries since her 2000 triumph in Sydney. The 32-year-old had been expected to compete at both the world championships and chase a third title in next spring's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. "My body has had enough, it has been taken through the mill," she told The Times on Wednesday. "After so many setbacks, the messages come through loud and clear. The last four yours have been mostly disappointments, even though my application has been 100 per cent," she added. 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 monumental Olympic Games success in Sydney, where she battled against a recurring Achilles injury which at one stage looked like preventing her from completing the heptathlon 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 summer and although she claimed she wanted to compete in August's World Championships, she had not attained the qualifying standard of 6,100 points. In the meantime, Lewis has been replaced as British number one by Kelly Sotherton, who took a bronze medal in the Athens Games. Lewis, who will act as an ambassador for London's bid for the 2012 Games in Singapore next week, has attained celebrity status in Britain, appearing on entertainment programmes on national television. "I don't come to major decisions quickly, especially when they are life-changing," she said. "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." 
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