Lewis returns to Australia for blockbuster showdown at Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne

Australia’s fastest woman in history is back, and better than ever.

Torrie Lewis is set to make her highly anticipated return to home soil for the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on March 29, jetting back to Australia from her training base in the Netherlands for a 200m showdown against South Africa’s Miranda Coetzee.

After a breakthrough 2024 which saw her storm into the international spotlight when becoming the Australian 100m record holder at 11.10-seconds as well as an Olympic semi-finalist over 200m, the 20-year-old has been honing her craft alongside four-time Olympic medallist and world champion Femke Bol under the guidance of renowned coach Laurent Meuwly.

Set to scorch the bend as a fan favourite at the biggest one-day meet of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Season, the appearance is the only opportunity to see Lewis in Australia before the 2025 Australian Athletics Championships in Perth this April.

“I’m very excited to come back for Maurie Plant Meet. The crowd is always the best there and they really make it a show,” Lewis said.

Having won World Under 20 Championships silver, a race at the Olympic Games and toppled world number one Sha’Carri Richardson on the Diamond League circuit, the 20-year-old has built an impressive resume – and her times are only getting faster.

Beginning 2025 with a blazing 60m Australian record of 7.14-seconds and a 200m Short Track time of 22.65 to miss Melinda Gainsford-Taylor’s national record by just 0.01-seconds, Lewis is poised to breakthrough outdoors ahead of her clash with Coetzee – an Olympic semi-finalist over 400m with 22.74-second credentials in the 200m.

“A new and improved start is what I’ll be bringing to Melbourne. It’s always fun racing someone fast, and of course, I’ll want to win in front of the home crowd,” Lewis said.

“There’s a lot of new things I’ve been doing behind the scenes and the improvements have shown in my competitions indoors, so I hope to bring the same mentality to Maurie Plant Meet for my first outdoor competition of the season.”

A World Athletics Continental Tour Gold level meet, the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne is the only meet of this level within the Oceania region, sitting just below the Diamond League in status on the global athletics calendar.

The third edition of the meet continues to attract world class athletes, with Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana already announced in the Men’s 400m, and it offers valuable world ranking points to athletes trying to qualify for the World Athletics Championships to be hosted in Tokyo, Japan this September.

The Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne is supported by the Victorian Government through its Significant Sporting Events Program.

Tickets can be purchased HERE.