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Medal-winner's 'superhero' tribute as coach retires

Scott Dalton,in Lincolnand
Grace McGrory
News imageBBC / Scott Dalton The photo shows a woman and a man smiling at the camera. The woman, on the left, has brown long hair and is wearing a grey jumper. The man, on the right, has a grey jacket on. He's also wearing glasses and a grey cap. They're standing on a brown athletics track. There is also a grey concrete building behind them. BBC / Scott Dalton
Fresh from her European Championships success, marathon runner Abbie Donnelly returned to Lincoln for former coach Rob Lewis's send-off

The first British woman to win an individual marathon medal at the European Championships has paid tribute to her "superhero" former coach on his retirement after almost 40 years.

Rob Lewis, 83, volunteered at Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club where he coached many athletes, including a young Abbie Donnelly who went on to clinch the European bronze medal in Birmingham on Sunday.

The club celebrated his final shift on Tuesday with Donnelly in attendance.

She said: "Rob's been an absolute superhero for me and the whole group to be honest. He's made my own running journey possible."

As well as her individual medal, Donnelly was part of the GB team which secured team gold, beating Italy and Spain to the top of the podium as Natasha Wilson finished 5th and Rose Harvey 14th.

News imageBBC / Scott Dalton The photo shows a man and a woman smiling at the camera. The man on the left has a grey jacket on. He's also wearing glasses and a grey cap. He has his arms on the shoulders of the woman, on the right. She is wearing a purple jacket and they are standing on a brown athletics track. There is also a grey brick building behind them. BBC / Scott Dalton
Rob Lewis said his wife Sandra had got "plans for him in the kitchen" after he retired

Lewis has been a member of the Wellington club for 45 years, but began coaching 39 years ago.

"What I love about it is basically, in a nutshell, just helping people to get better," he said.

"It's such a satisfying thing is coaching, if it's done properly."

Donnelly said she "won the coach lottery" being trained by Lewis from the age of 14.

"He's an absolute superhero to me," she said.

"He's so knowledgeable first of all. That's through years of coaching and being an athlete himself.

"He gets running, so he gets athletes and runners, and he's so easy to approach to ask for advice."

News imageBBC / Scott Dalton The photo shows a brown running track. There are a number of athletes running on it. There are a row of houses in the distance, as well some grass in the middle of the track. BBC / Scott Dalton
Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club hold its training sessions at the city's Yarborough Leisure Centre

Lewis has also coached a number of other high-performing athletes, including long-distance runner and two-time Olympian Sam Atkin.

"That has given me huge satisfaction, transforming people from what they've done for many years to become, in their age group, really high-class track runners," he said.

"Wellington is a very thriving club now and it's great to see it."

He said he had chosen to stop coaching due to difficulties with his hearing and the winter nights "becoming a little testing".

"Obviously, it will leave some space," he added.

"People think, oh well, it's only a couple of hours on a Tuesday and a Thursday, but I can assure you it's a lot more than that when you have got personal coaching relationships.

"I think I've come to terms with it now."

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