Jason Day in golf; Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz; Torrie Lewis in 200m; final day of swimming
A change of rules for this Olympics has cost Australia’s fastest woman the certainty of already having qualified for the 200 metres semi-finals and she must now race again for a place there.
Torrie Lewis ran faster than she had before over 200m, finishing fourth in her heat in 22.89 seconds, a personal best in her first ever Olympic race. Unfortunately, she was drawn to race the newly crowned fastest woman in the world Julien Alfred, who was clinical with a win in 22.41s.
Under the previous system in place Lewis, whose 22.89s was the third-fastest time of the non-automatic qualifying runners, would have been enough for her to claim a semi-final berth.
Lewis now has to run again in 24 hours at 12.50pm Paris time (8.50pm AEST) and win her repechage race to advance. Repechages have been introduced for these Olympics across all races except for the 100m.
Torrie Lewis in action in the 200m heats.Credit: Eddie Jim
Lewis, who earlier this year beat world 100m champion medallist Sha’Carri Richardson, said she was undaunted by the presence of Alfred in the heat, but in the same breath not disappointed to discover Ivory Coast’s champion Marie-Jose Talou-Smith was a late withdrawal.
“[Alfred] was just so dominant last night, like a real pro you wouldn’t even really tell how young she was. So it was definitely a really good role model to kind of look up to in that sense. So I was impressed,” she said.
“I think the French girl got a louder cheer than her. I was glad I had a French girl [in the heat] because I knew the crowd would go crazy for her.
“I mean, you kind of have to be delusional to be a sprinter I guess to think that every day is you’re going to be at your best. So even though I might not feel like it tomorrow. I’m going to tell myself that I’ll run better.
“I don’t expect to win in these races. But obviously the desire is still there. I’m still young. I know I’m nowhere near 20s. Once I can run 21s then I’ll expect to win. But you know, I’m just going to expect to do a PB tomorrow right.”
Australia’s Mia Gross finished sixth in her heat in 23.36s and will also run in the repechage tomorrow.
