Torrie Lewis runs a PB in the Olympic 200m heats

Running in lucky lane nine, rising Australian sprint sensation Torrie Lewis has clocked a personal best in the opening round of the Paris Olympics women’s 200m but just missed out on a direct route to the semi-finals.

The 19-year-old Queenslander – who broke the Australian 100m record early this year – stopped the clock at 22.89 seconds for fourth place on Sunday.

But with only the top three – including winner and newly-crowned Olympic 100m champ Julien Alfred from St Lucia – advancing automatically, Lewis will be back at Stade de France on Monday for the repechage round.

“I’ll go in with the same mindset I had this morning – try and run another PB,” said Lewis, whose previous best was 22.94.

“…You always have to constantly prove yourself.

“That’s why track and field is so hard, because there’s always people going faster.

“We saw that last night – (Sha’Carri Richardson) is no longer the fastest woman in the world.

“Now it’s Julien (Alfred).”

Lewis grabbed international headlines in May when she beat the great American Richardson in the 200m on her Diamond League debut in China, flashing home in lane nine.

Fellow Australian Mia Gross was also pitched into the repechage round after finishing sixth in her heat on Sunday in 23.36.

American Gabby Thomas clocked the fastest opening-round time of 22.20, while Alfred remained on track for the Olympic sprint double after easing through in 20.41.

Alfred is aged just 23, a fact not lost on the teenaged Lewis.

“She was so dominant last night, like a real pro,” said the Australian, who will be the highest-ranked runner in her repechage race.

“You wouldn’t even really tell how young she was.

“So she’s definitely a really good role model to look up to in that sense.”