Lewis helps Australia grab Olympic 4x100m slot

Torrie Lewis has played a key role in securing Australia a spot in the Olympic women’s 4x100m field.

A squad anchored by Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis has smashed the national 4x100m record for the second time this year to claim an automatic spot in the field for the Paris Olympics.

Racing at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas, the team of Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, Ella Connolly and Lewis stopped the clock at 42.83 seconds to finish second in their heat behind Germany.

It was the fifth fastest overall time, with the top two in each heat advancing to the final and guaranteeing their places for the Paris Olympics in early August.

The same quartet had flagged they were destined for great things when they clocked 42.94 at the Sydney Track Classic in late March, breaking an Australian standard that had stood for 24 years.

Lewis, 19, is also well placed to contest either the individual 100m or 200m at the Paris Games.

The US women were fastest in the Bahamas qualifying round in 42.21.

Australia’s 4x100m men went within a whisker of also claiming an automatic Olympic slot on day one at the World Relays.

The young team of Sebastian Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi clocked 38.50, only to be pipped for second spot by Jamaica in a photo finish.

They get another chance to shore up an Olympic berth in the repechage round on Sunday (Monday AEST).

If they are successful in that quest, Australia’s leading male sprinter Rohan Browning would be added to the relay squad in Paris.

An American team including world 100m and 200m champ Noah Lyles led the automatic qualifiers in 37.49 – the fastest time in the world this year.

Australia’s men’s and women’s 4x400m squads will contest the repechage rounds in the Bahamas on Sunday.