Louie Hinchliffe interview: 21-year-old sprint sensation from Sheffield on his sudden emergence and Olympic hopes

That neatly sums up the sudden emergence onto the global sprinting scene of Louie Hinchliffe, a 21-year-old from Sheffield who prioritised playing golf when he was younger, but who this weekend could cap his meteoric rise by qualifying to represent Great Britain in the 100m, athletics, and the Olympics, blue riband event.

Sudden and meteoric almost do not do his story justice. Four years ago he was playing golf at Hallamshire with Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown, with running for Sheffield and Dearne Athletics Club something he did on the side.

Three years ago he went to the University of Lancaster on an academics degree, sprinting still just considered a hobby, but something he was good enough to compete at nationally. He watched the delayed Olympics in Tokyo that summer not thinking for a second he could get anywhere close to that standard.

But universities in America saw this raw talent and recruited him. First, aged 19, he went to the University of Washington, but left after six months because he was finally starting to realise that he might be capable of achieving something.

That’s when a tape of him in action went across the desk of Carl Lewis, sprint coach at the University of Houston and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.

“That was a big thing,” Hinchliffe tells The Yorkshire Post via a Zoom call from his dorm room in Houston.

“A lot of my coaches I’d just take what I wanted to hear and try that, but everything Carl says I try to take in and listen.

“He saw that I ran 10.1 seconds and said ‘let me check you out’.

“I sent him a couple of my races, my technique wasn’t the best in them and he just said there’s a lot of room for improvement.

“He doesn’t like to take a sprinter that’s perfect because there’s not much improvement to make. But with me there was a lot to work on and I was already running fast times. So he wanted to work with me.”

Hinchliffe transferred to the University of Houston in January 2023. But it was mid-season in the NCAA athletics calendar and he wasn’t up to speed – literally.

When he returned home to Sheffield last summer, it was an intervention from his father Stuart that set him on the course that would see him scorch the earth over the next 12 months.

“When I was back in the UK I was not really training very hard, I was doing it twice, maybe three times a week,” admits Hinchliffe. “I was on my own, I had a coach who wasn’t able to always be there for me, so it was down to me.

“My dad had been saying if you practise from August you could do really well and easily improve the 10.1secs and once you start getting times in that range the more the opportunities will open up.”

He returned to Houston late last summer and has dedicated himself to his craft.

The results were not sudden, until in May it all clicked. Hinchliffe lowered his personal best to 10 seconds flat and then in Arkansas ran a time, albeit wind-assisted and therefore illegal, that caught widespread attention. Hinchliffe clocked 9.84 seconds which would have been the second fastest time in British history were it not for the 2.5m/s tailwind.

Then a fortnight later at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Oregon, Hinchliffe won the title in 9.95 seconds, the sixth fastest time in British history.

“It was amazing, not really anyone was expecting me to get the job done,” he says.

“After doing well at regionals a lot of people thought it’s going to be difficult for me to replicate, so it was good to show everyone that the run two weeks earlier was legit.

“Usually in the call room I’d be quite nervous but going into it as one of the fastest, I didn’t want to show any of my competitors that I was nervous, I tried to keep it calm. Being one of the favourites I didn’t want to be stood there shaking.

“I’ve always been pretty decent under pressure. It’s not something I work on or think about, but last year I made it in as the 12th seed to the finals, and that was even higher pressure than this year.

“It felt possible this year whereas last year it almost felt impossible to make it.”

The role of Lewis, the 100m Olympic champion in 1984 and 1988 cannot be understated.

But there are other contributing factors, including having a full season to work at it, committing wholeheartedly to the sport and becoming a student of sprinting.

“I know people think it’s an overnight thing” he smiles, “but I’ve been watching tape, hours and hours of film of other guys; Carl, Usain Bolt, trying to replicate.

“One of the main things Carl has taught me is how to run without getting hurt. A lot of guys end up getting hurt because of their technique, I was too.

“So he has been teaching me what I’ve got to not do, like lifting my knees. Forget what people have said is the right technique for you, he’s taking me in another direction.

“It’s been difficult to get my head around that so I’ve had to watch a lot of tape.

“It’s really my first year taking it seriously and trying to make a go of it.”

The sudden rise brings him to Manchester this weekend for the British Championships and Olympics trials.

He has run the qualifying mark but needs to finish in the top two to get the nod for Paris.

He has run against Zharnel Hughes and Reece Prescod before, but that was when all he could see was the backs of their heels. This time he hopes it is the other way round.

“I’m not expected to win that so I’ve got to prove people wrong, make sure I execute my race plan,” says Hinchliffe, who will be cheered on by former pupils at Notre Dame School and team-mates at Sheffield and Dearne and Hallamshire Golf Club. “Now I’m here, I’m coming in wanting to win, I want to take these opportunities. I’m just going to give everything when that gun goes off.

“It was always the goal to try and peak at trials, it would make the perfect ending if I could qualify.

"It’s only really come into perspective this past year that it was Olympic year and I could make a go of this. I never really expected to get this close. Hopefully I can do it, but it will be difficult.”

Wear and tear after a long season might count against him, but the men who line up on the startline of the 100m would be foolish to doubt Yorkshire’s rising sprint star.