No Australian woman has made the 100m final at a world championships, but Torrie Lewis could be a strong chance after setting a new national record in the heats.
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Lewis broke her own record with a blistering time of 11.08, which ranked third in her incredibly competitive heat behind Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and US superstar Sha’Carri Richardson.
Lewis first broke the 100m record when she blitzed the field in Canberra in January last year, recording a time of 11.10 seconds to beat Melissa Breen’s 11.11-second mark set in 2014.
The 20-year-old, who also competes in the 200m later in the week and potentially the 4x100m relay final on the final day of the event, said she was “very, very happy” with her performance.
It was exactly the kind of result Lewis was after having moved overseas to the Netherlands and changed coach to work under the guidance of the highly regarded Laurent Meuwly following last year’s Paris Olympics.
“I’m so glad it’s paid off and the fact it’s paid off at Worlds, like the biggest one, I’m really happy,” Lewis added, speaking to Channel Nine after the race.
Meanwhile, Lewis even said that she was so confident entering Saturday’s heat that she was expecting to break her record given the times she was recording in training.
“I know it probably sounds a bit cocky … but my times in training indicated that I could,” she told ABC Sport.
“I just needed to come out here and get rid of the nerves and do what I’ve been doing in training.”
Lewis was the 10th-fastest qualifier and will run in Sunday’s semi-final, which is scheduled for 9.20pm AEST.
“I hyped myself so much for this one. Now I’ve got to come back and do it again tomorrow but I’m confident I can,” Lewis said.
Elsewhere, Jess Hull won her 1500m heat with a time of 4:04.40. Lindell Hall also qualified after finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 4:07.61.
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