Mark Lewis-Francis
Event: 100m and 4 x 100m relay
DOB: 04/09/1982
Born: Birmingham
Β Lives: Slough
Β Coach: Linford Christie
National Championships
1998 β 1st AAA U17 Championships 100m
1999 β 1st AAA U17 Indoor Championships 60m, 1st AAA U20 Championships 100m
2000 β 3rd AAA Championships
2001 β 1st AAA U20 Indoor Championships 60m, 2nd AAA Championships
2002 β 2nd AAA Indoor Championships 60m, 1st Commonwealth Trials and AAA Championships 100m
2003 β 2nd AAA Indoor Championships 60m, 2nd AAA Championships 100m
2004 β 3rd AAA Championships 100m
2005 β 2nd AAA Championships 100m
2006 β 3rd AAA Championships 100m
2007 β 3rd Norwich Union World Champs Trials 100m
2009 β 8th Aviva World Trials 100m
2010 β 4th Aviva World Indoor Trials 60m, Aviva European Trials 5th 100mΒ
Major Championships Record
Olympic Games β 2005 5sf 100m (1st 4×100m)
World Championships β 2001 5sf 100m, 2003 7sf 100m, 2005 5qf (3rd 4×100m), 2007 5sf (3rd 4×100m)
European Championships β 2006 5th 100m (1st 4×100m), 2010 2nd 100m
Commonwealth Games β 2002 7th 100m, 2006 DQ 100m (DNF 4×100m), 2010 2nd 100m, 1st 4×100m
Personal Best Performances
100m 10.
Career summary
THE Linford Christie-coached athlete was such as prestigious talent as a junior, winning the inaugural world youth title in 1999 and in 2000, Lewis-Francis stormed to a 10.10 PB at Crystal Palace in August which was enough to guarantee him a place on the 4×100m relay team for the Olympic Games in Sydney, but Lewis-Francis opted to concentrate on the World Junior Championships in Santiago, where he was one of the stars of the championships, winning gold medals in the 100m and 4×100m. Lewis-Francis also holds British age-group records at 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18.
In 2001, Lewis-Francis appeared as though he had already made a smooth transition into the senior ranks, winning a bronze at the World Indoors and winning the European Cup. Having been selected for the World Championships, Lewis-Francis blasted to a 9.98 clocking but agonisingly for him, this could not be ratified as a world junior record due to a lack of a wind-reading.
Having pulled up injured in the Commonwealth final in 2002, Lewis-Francis made the semi-finals at the World Championships in 2003 but 2004 saw the Birchfield Harrier achieve his greatest success and having been unlucky to narrowly missed the Olympic 100m final by one place, Lewis-Francis anchored the British team home to a triumphant victory over the American squad.
Despite winning a bronze medal in the 4×100m at the World Championships, injury meant that after a promising early season patch, Lewis-Francis did not progress past the quarter-final stage in Helsinki.
After a disappointing 2006 stage, Lewis-Francis had discovered some good form at the World Championships in 2007, but again, the Brit was unlucky to miss the final by only one place but for the second successive World Championships event, Lewis-Francis won a bronze in the 4×100m relay.
Lewis-Francis missed the 2008 campaign through an achilles tendon injury. 2010 saw him return to his very best form with silver medals over 100m at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
He was originally coached by the late Steve Platt from the age of 12. In the 2005 New Year Honours list he was awarded the MBE.
