TORRIE Lewis was all of six years old when she walked into a Newcastle gymnastics centre.
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She eventually turned her attention to athletics.
During the next 16 days of international sporting competition Lewis, aged only 19 and now Australia's fastest woman, will make her Olympic debut.
"She has been given talent, but has done the hard work from a very early age, which has lead her to this major achievement, at still such a young age."
She continued at Macquarie Hunter Athletics Club, training out of Glendale and making a Stawell Gift appearance at just 14.
More recently Lewis, born in the UK and now based in Brisbane, has enjoyed a stunning rise up the track ranks.
Lewis has two events in Paris - 200m (heats on August 4) and 4x100m relay (heats on August 8).