Torrie Lewis won the 200m gold at the Xiamen Diamond League. She clinched a wholly unexpected win with 22.96 sec, beating her idol, 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, and Tamara Clark after a fine start.
“It was so surreal beating Sha’Carri. I didn’t even notice I beat them until I saw the replay and I was like, ‘Holy Crap!’ So surreal! My goal was to just hold on as long as I could. I was in lane nine so I knew they would all be in front of me by 50 or 60m, but I just wanted to do as well as I could”, said the Australian fastest woman. “I’ve come here straight from the nationals, knowing this was my opponents’ season-opener so I knew I had an edge coming in, but I just wasn’t entirely sure because I had never raced those athletes before”, added she.
Despite running a strong bend, Sha’Carri Richardson was behind Anavia Battle for most of the race but moved ahead inside the closing 20m.
Out in lane nine, 19-year-old Torrie Lewis finished fastest of all to take the win in 22.96 sec with Sha’Carri Richardson second ahead of her USA World Championship sprint relay team-mate Tamara Clark and Anavia Battle in fourth place. Just six-hundredths of a second separated the top four.
Torrie Lewis is an Australian track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. She has won Australian national titles over 100m and 200m. She set a new Australian 100m national record of 11.10 sec in January 2024.
