Torrie Lewis has led all three Australian women safely through the opening round of the 100m at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, clocking the fastest 100m ever run by an Australian at the Games in the process.
Lewis cruised to victory in her heat from lane two, winning by more than a tenth of a second in 11.15 (+2.4 m/s). While wind-assisted, the run eclipsed Kerry Johnson’s 11.19 from Auckland in 1990 as the quickest Commonwealth Games 100m by an Australian, and made the national record holder the second fastest qualifier behind England’s Imani Lansiquot (11.04).
It came despite an unfamiliar warm-up setup at Scotstoun, where athletes prepare on a straight underneath the grandstand.
“I’m happy with the time, just because of the warm-up situation,” Lewis said. “That was my first time there and I didn’t really like what I could do in the warm-up, so it was nice to be able to come onto the track and still put up a good time.”
The 21-year-old arrived in Glasgow off the back of her 11.04 national record six days ago, a run that included a scalp she’s still savouring.
“Yeah, really happy with that. I would say that’s helped my confidence even more. The fact that I raced Elaine Thompson and I beat Elaine Thompson — that’s a huge name. So yeah, I’m just really happy that I was able to do that.”
Glasgow is something of a homecoming for Lewis, who has a strong contingent trackside.
“My whole mum’s side of the family is Scottish, and then my dad’s side is English and Jamaican. My grandma’s here, my grandpa’s here, and some of their friends, so yeah, it’s a family affair,” she said.
“My grandma’s originally from the Lossiemouth and Elgin area up north, and my granddad is from the west of England.”
She’s also planning to make the most of the trip once her racing is done: “I’m going to do a little road trip on the west coast of Scotland to some islands and stuff.”
Lane and Harris sneak through
Behind Lewis, Ebony Lane and Georgia Harris both progressed on time in a first round where the 17 fastest across the eight heats advanced to join the top eight seeds, who received a bye to the semi-finals.
Lane, the Queenslander via Victoria, started well in heat two and challenged to the line, clocking 11.50 (+0.9) to qualify 15th. Harris, the national champion and World University Games gold medallist, finished third in her heat in 11.51 — just one-hundredth slower than Lane — to claim 16th of the 17 qualifying spots.
A clean sweep through the first round continues a perfect card for the Australians in the opening session, with T38 sprinters Rhiannon Clarke (12.96), Ella Pardy (13.44) and Briseis Brittain (13.50) also advancing to tonight’s 100m final, and every Australian in action progressing to the next round.
At 10.07 Eddie Nketia was the equal third fastest through to the heats, joined by Rohan Browning who snuck into the top 17 with 16th in 10.24. They are joined in the semi-final stage by Lachlan Kennedy, who was given a bye as one of the top 8 seeded athletes.
