Why Australia’s fastest woman won’t compete in the Olympics’ fastest race

She is Australia’s fastest woman but Torrie Lewis has confirmed she won’t compete in the fastest race at the Olympics.

And the star of male sprinting Rohan Browning faces a nervous few days’ wait to learn if he can still make the team.

Browning has fallen down the rankings to 57, to be agonisingly one place outside the 56 available to compete at the Games. The world rankings closed on June 30 and when they were updated Browning had slid a few spots from only days earlier and was suddenly outside the 56.

Australia’s Bree Masters is also in 57th place in the women’s 100m, and like Browning is hoping for athletes in the 56 to withdraw due to injury or for countries not to take up the available place, either of which is not uncommon.

The 19-year-old Lewis, who broke the national 100m record in January this year when she ran 11.1sec, will only run the 200m and the 4x100m relay but not the individual 100m sprint.

Lewis had been focusing on the 200m since she broke the 100m record, and in April beat world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson in a 200m race in the Diamond League.

She had harboured ambitions to do the sprint double as well as the relay, but had to shelve those plans. Athletics Australia was keen for her to focus on one individual event and she opted for the 200m, which has meant her world 100m ranking has slid outside the range for her to qualify.

“I had to pick between the one and the two, so I’m going to pick the two,” she said. “My 100 when I get going I’m fine, but my start isn’t at the level it needs to be for me to be fully confident in it just yet.”

Athletics Australia’s high-performance head Andrew Faichney said it was the right call with the Australian women a strong contender in the relay and with Lewis competing at World Juniors so soon after the Olympics.

“She has not been running many 100s [since the record] so she is ineligible in the 100. The decision with her coach was to focus on one and it was always about the 200m,” he said.

AA will announce its final team for the Olympics on Monday. All countries have to nominate their teams with World Athletics on Friday and the world body will confirm places by Sunday.

Faichney believes both Browning and Masters are highly likely to still be selected as he said a number of athletes always withdraw due to injury or a country does not accept a qualification spot.

In Tokyo, Browning ran 10.01s in his heat to claim a spot in the semi-finals. In Budapest at the world championships last year, he ran 10.11s in his heat to make the semi-final but missed the final after running the identical time in his semi.

He has battled a niggling knee injury which had hampered his training this year but has been in a solid training block in Europe for the past month since racing in the Oceania championships in Fiji in June.

Browning ran third in Fiji behind Australian relay teammates Josh Azzopardi and 18-year-old Seb Sultana.

Ella Connolly has already qualified for the women’s 100m and will be picked in the team.

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