By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
 SYDNEY - Heptathlete Denise Lewis of Great Britain knows how to play hurt.

 With an injury so serious that her management alerted the BBC that she wouldn't start the 800-metre segment of the event, Lewis bounced back after intense physiotherapy and won.

 And that was just one of her injuries.

 "You can't come that far and pull out,'' she said. "This is the Olympic Games. You try and dig into the soul and character of yourself.

 "Going into the javelin I couldn't walk properly. After the long jump, something happened to my foot. The injury which bothered me the most has been an Achilles problem.

 "But you don't come this far to give up the penultimate event.''

 Lewis won because she played hurt and the others couldn't.

 "As you watched, all the favourites had to pull out at different stages of the competition,'' she said. "I've had a lot of injuries. It was survival of the fittest.''

 Yelena Prokhorova of Russia and Natalya Sazanovich of Bulgaria won silver and bronze respectively.

 Only four points separated silver and bronze.

 That equates to 0.03 seconds for the 110-metre hurdles, one centimetre for the high jump, six centimetres in the shotput, 0.05 seconds for the 200 metres, a half-centimetre in the long jump, nine-tenths of a centimetre in the javelin or 0.6 seconds in the 800 metres.

 Lewis won the silver medal at the Seville 1999 Worlds last year.

 Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria won the women's triple jump with Russian Tatyana Lebedeva and Ukrainian Olena Hovorova in for second and third.

 "I think I confused the other competitors,'' said Marinova. I had an operation last year.''

 Marinova says she's headed to Edmonton 2001 next year with only one thing in mind.

 "I am looking for another championship and it is within me to do a world record.''

 As was the case with the men's high jump, rain, wind and chill put the damper on the event.

 Marinova jumped 15.20 metres on her first jump and wasn't able to improve on the mark as the worst of the weather moved in.