At 19 years old, Torrie Lewis has already earned the title ‘The Fastest Woman in Australia.’ With Paris on her doorstep, she has her eyes on the finish line.
When Torrie Lewis made the decision to transition from running for fun in Little Athletics, to running competitively, the world shut down. Lewis had moved from Newcastle to Brisbane as Covid hit, and the lockdowns had left her without a coach, a running partner, even a groundskeeper.
After school, she’d walk to the field, carting a bag with her spikes, her training clothes and marker cones she’d set up for herself, according to her coach’s instructions. And apart from some videos she’d send to check her form, Lewis was completely alone on the track. She did this for a year, early mornings and late afternoons with only herself for encouragement and correction. As Lewis explains it, that isolation crystalised her intentions into reality.
“I had to decide whether I wanted to keep doing this for fun, or did I want to try and make something out of this myself?” says Lewis. “I had to take responsibility because there wasn’t a coach or any other athlete there that could keep me accountable. That was the change in myself: the mindset of ‘If I want to do it, I’ve gotta do it myself’.”
Once borders opened, international races and gold medals came in thick and fast. With those came her new title, ‘The Fastest Woman in Australia’ — ever. For Lewis, the title isn’t a finish line, it’s another bit of motivation for her to speed up.
“You don’t get into the sport unless you want to be the best, and I’ve been the best in Australia so far. It motivates me in the fact that I’m on track to where I want to reach in the future, and I want to keep getting that record lower and lower. It’s really good to call yourself that title. It’s a bit tricky though, walking around Australia, thinking this to yourself. But it’s the best title you could have in the sport.”
The 19-year-old’s personal best of a blistering 11.10 over 100m not only makes her the best in Australia, it beats out competitors the world-over, including the reigning World Championship winner, Sha’Carri Richardson, who Lewis beat in the Diamond League in April.
“I was the late call up for that race, and when I saw the start list, all of their [personal bests] were 22-low, and Sha’Carri’s was 21. And my [personal best] on the start list, at the time, was 23.02. So I’m a second slower than all these girls. Going into it, I thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into? I just need to hold on for as long as possible.’ That was my entire game plan—try to get out good and hold on.”
Lewis did better than hold on. As she crossed the finish line, it was a swarm of camera crews with lenses pointed at her that let her know that, not only had she kept pace with Richardson, she had beat her by 0.03 seconds—the most delicate of margins.
As Lewis prepares to step out for her first Olympics, it’s clear not much has changed from those empty Brisbane fields to the bright lights of Paris. Torrie: in her own lane.
STORY BY – MAHALIA CHANG (VOGUE AUSTRALIA)
Photographer: Charles Dennington
Stylist: Kaila Matthews
Talent: Torrie Lewis
Hair: Rory Rice
Make-up: Gillian Campbell
Producer: Charlotte Rose and Mollie Dixon
Talent direction: Rikki Keene
Props: Nat Turnbull