Aussie Sprinting Prodigy Torrie Lewis Shines Indoors in Europe as a Respected Expert Issues a Stark Warning

Emerging Australian sprinting star Torrie Lewis continues to impress with another blistering performance over 60 metres while competing in Europe ahead of the world athletics indoor championships.

According to Nic Bideau, the owner of Melbourne Track Club which manages the 20-year-old talent, Lewis has the potential to become the first Australian woman to break the 11-second barrier in the 100 metres this year.

At the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava on Wednesday (AEDT), Lewis recorded times of 7.23 seconds in both the heats and the final of the 60m event. Although she finished fourth in the final, two of the athletes who finished ahead of her hold the top 60m times for the current indoor season.

In her first European outing at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting in late January, Lewis produced remarkable 60m times of 7.22 seconds in the heats and an impressive 7.14 seconds in the final, setting a new Australian record.

So far, relocating to the Netherlands to train with esteemed sprint coach Laurent Meuwly after the Paris Olympics seems to have been an excellent choice.

“It was a significant choice for her to move overseas and train under Laurent … but it’s clearly paying dividends,” said Bideau in an interview with Wide World of Sports.

“She’s definitely improving her starts. Her consistency is impressive; 7.14 is her fastest and 7.23 is her slowest this season, showing she’s been within a tenth of a second across four 60m races.

“Looking ahead, I believe she will run under 11 seconds in the 100m during the European summer season, which would make her the first Australian woman to achieve this feat. She’s already the national record holder.”

Last January, Lewis set a new national record of 11.10 seconds in the 100m in Canberra, breaking the previous record held by Melissa Breen for a decade.

At the Paris Olympics, Lewis only participated in the 200m, but Bideau indicated she may expand her events at the world championships in Tokyo this September.

“I would expect that, pending her selection, she could compete in both the 100m and 200m in Tokyo this year,” Bideau commented.

Before she heads to the world championships in September, the Queensland native will compete in the world indoor championships in Nanjing, China, where she is set to race in the 60m event.

Another sprinter making waves in the 60m event is 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy.

At the end of January in Canberra, the former junior rugby star sprinted through a 60m race in an astonishing 6.43 seconds, breaking Matt Shirvington’s long-standing national record of 6.52 seconds set in Japan in 1999.

During the first Australian short-track championships held recently in Sydney, Kennedy again surpassed Shirvington’s record, clinching victory with a time of 6.51 seconds.

Both Lewis and Kennedy have achieved qualifying times for the world indoor championships scheduled in China from March 21-23.

Bideau remarked on Kennedy’s outstanding performances, noting, “It’s rare to see someone win those sprint races by such a margin. There’s a significant gap between him and the others, and we’re not talking about just any competitors. Josh Azzopardi reached the semi-finals in the 100m at the Olympics. These are top-tier athletes, and Kennedy has managed to distance himself from the pack, which is incredibly impressive.”