Hunter product Torrie Lewis stuns world champion in Diamond ...

Hunter product Torrie Lewis has continued her stunning rise, leaving an indelible mark on the global athletics scene.

Australia’s fastest woman stormed to victory in the Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, at the weekend.

Following a record-breaking season at “home”, which included a phenomenal run of 11.10 (+1.6) over 100m at the ACT Open and Under 20 Championships in January, the former Macquarie Hunter Athletics Club member orchestrated a stunning upset to win the women’s 200m at her individual meeting debut.

From lane nine, the 19-year-old overtook 100m world champion and her idol Sha’Carri Richardson (USA) and Tamara Clark (USA) in the final moments of the race for a photo finish.

Clocking 22.96 (-0.4), Lewis ran the second fastest 200m of her career.

She also edged closer to shattering Raelene Boyle’s 56-year-old Australian under-20 mark as well as the Olympic qualifying standard of 22.57.

“It was so surreal beating Sha’Carri,” Lewis said afterwards.

“I didn’t even notice I beat them until I saw the replay and I was like, ‘Holy Crap!’

“Honestly, it’s 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.

“I just did Nationals on Sunday and came here straight from that.

“I know that this was their (competitors) season opener, so I knew I had an edge coming in.

“However, I just wasn’t entirely sure because I had never raced those athletes before.”

The Diamond League is the world’s premier athletics series, with the next edition taking place in Shanghai and Suzhou in China on Saturday 27 April.

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