Tamsyn Lewis has produced the race of her life to win the 800m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain.

In other Australian results, Steve Hooker won the bronze medal in the pole vault, Craig Mottram finished fifth in the 3000m and Sean Wroe sixth in the 400m final in a night that belonged to Lewis - who collects US$40,000 for her win.

In a result described as a “seismic shock” by the IAAF, the 29-year-old raced to the lead when a gap opened up with 350m remaining and despite being headed by Ukraine’s Tetiana Petlyuk in the last lap, Lewis fought back to claim the biggest win of her long career.

"When I saw that gap, I said to myself if I'm going to go down it might as well be in spectacular fashion, so I took it and from then on everything went perfectly,” an amazed Lewis said after the race.

"I am in complete shock. I was happy to be in the final and then take whatever came from then on.

“But this probably wasn't in the script. It's amazing.”

Despite going into the final as the sixth ranked qualifier Lewis was simply too good in the finishing straight, lifting as she had done in the concluding stages of her Australian championship victories over 400m and 800m the previous weekend in Brisbane.

The race was billed as a battle between Maria Mutola and Mayte Martinez.  Mutola the Mozambique superstar bidding for an unprecedented eighth World Indoor 800m title and the Spanish favourite Martinez, the 2003 World Indoor bronze medallist.

Lewis was able to defeat the duo, and the fastest qualifier Petlyuk to become.... MORE