Few athletes at the Olympics have enjoyed such a sudden rise to prominence in the months before Paris 2024 as Louie Hinchliffe , Britain’s new sprinting sensation.
Hinchliffe secured qualification for the Olympic 100m as the 21-year-old stormed to victory at the UK Athletics Championships in late June, which came just three weeks after winning the United States college title.
The Sheffield-born sprinter was virtually unknown at the start of the Olympics year but his stunning victory to win the NCAA Championships, becoming the first European to win the US collegiate title, was his big breakthrough.
As he nipped under the 10-second barrier with a time of 9.95 seconds in Eugene, Oregon, Hinchliffe clocked the sixth fastest time in British history and the ninth quickest time this year. Two weeks before, he ran a wind-assisted 9.84.
Hinchliffe credits his improvement in 2024 to an Olympics legend in Carl Lewis, the nine-time gold medallist and American track and field star who won titles in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
After initially earning a scholarship at the University of Washington, Hinchliffe texted Lewis asking for help. Lewis accepted and Hinchliffe transferred to the University of Houston in Texas to work with him. Nine months later, Hinchliffe was standing as national college champion.
“He [Lewis] helped me mature quite a lot as a person,” Hinchliffe told Sky Sports . "My technique was very flawed. I wasn’t really a natural runner, so he helped me a lot with that - understanding my rhythm and how to run the 100 metres."
Now Hinchliffe will hope to line up in the 100m final against the fastest men on the planet, such as world champion Noah Lyles, reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs and Zharnel Hughes, the British record holder.
Not that Hinchliffe, with his mullet and safety pins in his ears, will be fazed, given his trajectory to this point.
Born to a British father, Stuart Hinchliffe, who was a goalkeeper at Leyton Orient, and his mother Leilani, who is from the Philippines, Hinchliffe was a promising junior golfer with a handicap of 0.7 and declined trials at Manchester City before focussing on athletics. He was studying business and IT at Lancaster University as recently as 2022, before winning the English Championship title to earn him a scholarship in America.
“This is the first year I have taken my athletics seriously," he said after qualifying for the Olympics. "I used to focus on golf until a couple of years ago but now I am really focused 100 per cent on training, nutrition, rest - the whole deal.
“It means everything to be going to Paris - I have dreamed about the Olympics since I was a kid. I will go with the attitude that I can win. I seem to do well in the high-pressure situations, so who knows.”
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