Teenager Torrie Lewis breaks 20-year national 100m record, eyes mythical sub-11sec mark

The new Australian 100m record holder has declared it is only a matter of time until she breaks one of the most elusive barriers in Australian athletics. Watch Torrie Lewis’s incredible run.

Queensland sensation Torrie Lewis is officially the fastest woman in Australian history, eclipse Melissa Breen’s national 100m record. Picture: Casey Sims

Teenage sprint queen Torrie Lewis says it is only a matter of time before she breaks the magical 11-second barrier.

The new Australian 100m record holder is confident she can continue her speed trajectory after running 11.10sec in Canberra on Saturday to write her name into the history books.

Lewis, 19, points out how that performance was a .13sec improvement on her personal best and it was only her first hit-out of the new season.

“Now that I have got this close to sub 11, I’m going to get it,” she declared. “It might not be this year or next year, but I am going to get it.

“I’m this close. The jump from my old PB was .13 and if I do that jump again it is 10.97sec so it is definitely doable.

“I have only run it (11.10sec) once, I want to run it again and again, and be consistent in that.

Queensland sensation Torrie Lewis is officially the fastest woman in Australian history, eclipsing Melissa Breen’s national 100m record. Picture: Supplied

“I just have to pick the same mindset I had and apply it to all of my competitions because that is obviously the magic formula for me to run good, to stay that relaxed.

“It definitely puts me in a great position and gives me a lot of confidence going into this Olympic year.”

Lewis caught up with the past two national record holders in Canberra - Melissa Breen who had held the record of 11.11sec for a decade and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor who’d owned it for 20 years before that.

“It’s weird when you think about how many amazing people we have had, Sally Pearson, Cathy Freeman, Mel Gainsford, Melissa Breen, just incredible athletes,” Lewis said.

“The fact that my name is above them in some respect is pretty incredible.

“When you’re a kid and you’re at a sports carnival, you’re like, ‘Who is the fastest woman in Australia? Who is she?’. It is crazy that kids will be saying my name.

HISTORY FOR LEWIS 🌟🔥

19-year-old Torrie Lewis becomes the fastest Australian woman in history, tearing down the straight at the ACT State Championships in 11.10 (+1.6) to surpass Melissa Breen's 11.11 national record.

*Pending ratification.#ThisIsAthletics#ItsShowtimepic.twitter.com/PqFyJ69LSA

— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) January 27, 2024

“I remember asking that question too at school, ‘Who is the fastest in the country?’ It’s crazy that they are going to have to say me.”

The Brisbane sprinter revealed she’d only been focused on breaking the Under 20 national record of 11.20sec, which was set by the great Raelene Boyle at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, this season.

“To be honest the only record I was going for this year was that under 20 record because this will be my last year to do under 20s,” she said. “Raelene Boyle’s record was the only record I was looking at.

Torrie Lewis breaks the OPEN Women’s 100m Australian Record! 11.10 +0.3. Insane. Congrats Superstar! @AthsAustpic.twitter.com/tWE3Vj3JJa

— Tim Rosen (@timrosen35) January 27, 2024

“The proper open record wasn’t even in my sights for a year or a year or two.”

Lewis, who was born in England - she has Scottish and Jamaican heritage - and arrived in Australia with her mum Wendy when she was six, made her first senior Australian team last year where she ran in the heats of the 100m at the world championships in Budapest.

“That was the most tense race of my life and I didn’t run what I was capable of so I was a little bit disappointed,” she said.

“In that way it was a great learning experience for me, to just learn how to stay in my own lane and not focus on these incredible stars next to me.

“I’m really glad that I went and learnt so much from going over there.”

Lewis will next race over 200m in Adelaide next month before testing herself against some international competition over the 100m at the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne on February 15.

Originally published as Teenager Torrie Lewis breaks 20-year national 100m record, eyes mythical sub-11sec mark