Torrie Lewis downs five-time Olympic gold medallist in record-breaking win

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Australia’s fastest woman just got faster, with sprinter Torrie Lewis smashing her own national 100m record and taking down a five-time Olympic champion in the process.

Lewis, 21, won the 100m at the PTS meet in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on Tuesday, posting a time of 11.04 seconds to beat Jamaican sprint great Elaine Thompson-Herah and Austria’s Christania Williams who both ran 11.06 seconds to finish second and third respectively.

Australian sprinter Torrie Lewis has again broken her own national record.Getty Images

The 34-year-old Thompson-Herah is one of the greatest women sprinters in history, a five-time Olympic gold medallist (with wins in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the Rio and Tokyo Games). She is not listed to compete in Glasgow.

Queenslander Lewis first broke the national record as a 19-year-old in Canberra in 2024 when she ran 11.10 seconds, beating Melissa Breen’s record from 2014 of 11.11s. Lewis lowered that time again during heats at last year’s world athletics championships with a run of 11.08.

Her statement victory comes on the eve of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where Lewis will face stiff competition, but is showing she is in peak form and primed to push for gold.

Lewis finished her night in Slovakia with another victory in the 200m, clocking 22.66s.

The results are a boost for Lewis, with the athletics competition at the 10-day Games starting on Monday.

She had a mixed result at the world titles in Tokyo last September when she ran 11.14 in the semis to just miss out on becoming the first Australian woman to make a 100m final at that event.

Lewis is scheduled to run in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Glasgow after being named in the 55-member Australian team along with fellow rising sprint stars Lachlan Kennedy (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) and Eddie Nketia (100m).

The competition is a valuable international building block on the path to the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

Young sensation Gout Gout will not compete in Glasgow, having planned to run at this year’s world under-20 championships instead, but that was shelved after he suffered a serious hamstring injury in training. He is expected to be out of competition until next year.

“The team is packed full of both proven world, Olympic and Paralympic champions and medallists and our next crop of junior talent,” Athletics Australia chief executive Simon Hollingsworth said of the Glasgow team.

“There is amazing depth in the team.

“There is a real history with Australian athletics and the Commonwealth Games, and the team wants to continue that history.

“We can’t wait to see what happens in Glasgow.”

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Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He's been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X or email.