Athletics: Gurus of gold promise a silver lining for Tamsyn

Sebastian Coe and Daley Thompson enjoyed mixed fortunes as competing athletes at Commonwealth Games. Coe suffered from colds on his two appearances. He withdrew from the 800m final in Edinburgh in 1986 and finished sixth in the 800m final in Auckland in 1990. Thompson won the decathlon in Edmonton in 1978, in Brisbane in 1982 and in Edinburgh in 1986.

As coaching advisers they make an unlikely if highly knowledgeable pairing, the muscular decathlete and the slender middle-distance man. Their formative alliance is starting to show results, though, judging by the assured manner in which Tamsyn Lewis secured her passage through to the semi-finals of the women's 800m yesterday. The 24-year-old Australian did no more than she had to in her first-round heat, settling for the second qualifying place in 2min 3.12sec rather than waste precious energy battling for victory with Grace Ebor of Nigeria. "There's a long way to go still," she said.

Coe no doubt articulated his approval from his seat in the Channel 7 commentary box. The English Lord and president of the English Amateur Athletic Association is working for the Australian television station in Manchester. "The only problem I have is how I maintain a degree of objectivity when I'm commentating on Tamsyn's races," Coe said before getting behind the mike. Lewis turned to Coe and Thompson for help after failing to venture beyond the semi-final stage at the world championships in Edmonton last summer. She decided she needed to be fitter and stronger in order to compete with the world's best women over the last 200m. To that end, she is following running schedules devised by Coe and gym and strength programmes written by Thompson.

"Seb and Daley are amazing people," Lewis said. "They have a huge knowledge base. I've learned more in the last eight months with them than I have in the rest of my life. They're the reason I'm in good shape. I've got a lot more armoury coming into these Commonwealth Games than I've ever had."

Lewis also draws on an impressive gene pool. Her mother, Carolyn Wright, placed sixth in the high jump at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth. Her father, Greg Lewis, was fifth in the 100m and the 200m at the 1974 Games in Christchurch. He also reached the semi-finals of both sprints in Edinburgh in 1970. In his 200m quarter-final in the Scottish capital he finished ahead of the Welshman John Williams, who earned greater sporting fame as J J Williams, the flying Wales and British Lions wing (and whose son, Rhys was a 400m hurdles semi- finalist at the world junior championships in Kingston, Jamaica, last week). Tamsyn started her Commonwealth Games career as a 16-year-old in Victoria in 1994. She was the youngest member of the Australian track and field team, as a member of the 4 x 400m relay squad. In Kuala Lumpur four years ago she finished sixth in the 800m final and ran the second leg for the Australian team that struck gold in the 4 x 400m.

The Melbourne woman's medal prospects in the 800m in Manchester are as fair as her hair. The gold seems destined for Maria Mutola, the mighty Mozambican world, Olympic and defending Commonwealth champion and Lewis is one of several closely matched contenders for silver and bronze. Jo Fenn of England, and Scotland's Susan Scott are also in that category. They were both comfortable qualifiers yesterday, while Charlotte Moore also advanced to tonight's semi-final stage, with a mature performance that showed the benefit of the coaching the Bournemouth girl has been receiving from Christina Boxer, who won the women's 1500m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. At trackside, as the heats progressed, was another British middle-distance star of the not-too-distant past. "Get in," Peter Elliott shouted when it was confirmed that Emma Davies had qualified as one of the fastest losers. The South Yorkshireman has coached the Welshwoman since last September. Elliott also has something Sebastian Coe never gained, of course – two Commonwealth medals, 800m bronze from Edinburgh in 1986 and 1500m gold from Auckland in 1990. "I'd swap them for Seb's two Olympic golds," he said.