Louie Hinchliffe heads to British Olympic trials as surprise headline act

Louie Hinchliffe on his way to winning the NCAA 100m title in Eugene, Oregon. Photograph: C Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos/Getty Images

The last time Louie Hinchliffe competed at the British Championships two years ago he failed to advance from the 100 heats. This weekend he returns to Manchester as one of the Olympic trials’ least likely headline attractions after a shock 9.95sec run when he became the first European to claim the NCAA 100m title in the United States.

The 21-year-old had all but given up on athletics during his first year at Lancaster University, but has excelled since moving his studies across the Atlantic where he is guided by the nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis at the University of Houston, drastically improving his personal best from 10.17sec last year.

“Being a late bloomer it was difficult to find a lot of places to accept me,” said Hinchliffe of his decision to leave Lancashire for Texas. “I was just a regular student in a small place without an athletics track.”

Darren Campbell, the UK Athletics sprint coach, has described Hinchliffe as a “special talent”. But his British-leading time will not secure an Olympic spot unless he finishes in the top two this weekend, with the absent 100m world bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes certain to be given the third discretionary place if he recovers from injury in time for the Paris Games.

Other sub-10sec rivals include Jeremiah Azu, Reece Prescod, Eugene Amo-Dadzie and CJ Ujah. “It’s going to be electric,” said Campbell.

A number of Britain’s leading lights are using the event to work on different elements of their race plans for Paris, safe in the knowledge that they, like Hughes, will be awarded discretionary spots by the selectors to line up in the French capital.

The Olympic and world 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson – now a firm gold-medal favourite after the USA’s defending champion Athing Mu fell at the US trials – will test her speed over the shorter 400m; world 1,500m champion Josh Kerr will do likewise over 800m; and Matthew Hudson-Smith will compete over 200m instead of his world silver-winning distance of 400m.

Their decision not to contest their main events leaves remaining Team GB hopefuls in those races facing the ruthless scenario of finishing in the top two to avoid their only taste of Paris coming from a supermarket croissant.

That brutal equation could impact the 17-year-old 800m prodigy Phoebe Gill, who last month clocked the second-fastest under-18 time in history, behind only a highly suspect Chinese mark from 1993. If she is to make the Olympics before entering her last year at secondary school she must beat either Jemma Reekie or Alex Bell, who both ran in the Tokyo 2020 final.

Kerr’s grip on the final discretionary 1500m spot means his predecessor as world champion, Jake Wightman, is unlikely to compete in his preferred event in Paris after a minor injury ruled him out of this weekend’s trials. His Olympic hopes now appear to lie in the selectors’ hands over 800m.