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On the opening morning of the men’s 100m at the Stade de France, Noah Lyles was in his element as the world’s eyes fell on him. Wearing a crown of white beads and with each of his fingernails painted with the flag of the United States, Lyles exuded his trademark main character energy. He expected to win comfortably.
Then came a flash to his left, as a mulleted 22-year-old from Sheffield with safety pins in his ears burst past him, handing the world champion a surprise defeat in the opening round of his bid for 100m gold. There could be no hiding the secret of Britain’s new sprint sensation any longer. Louie Hinchliffe, welcome to the Olympics.
Hinchliffe carried on his breakthrough year with an impressive display on his Olympic debut, clocking 9.98 seconds. Beaten by Lyles in London last month in his final race before the Olympics, Hinchliffe was not shy to admit he sought revenge and declared there will be more to come in his bid to reach Sunday night’s final.
“It was good to get him back after London, it was a good feeling,” he said. “I think the pressure, the environment will bring more out of me.”
Hinchliffe was the third fastest overall on the first morning of the 100m, only a hundredth of a second behind the Americans Kenneth Bednarek and Fred Kerley. The fastest man this year, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, was clearly holding back as he jogged over the line in 10.00s flat.
Hinchliffe’s 9.98s run was just 0.02 seconds off his historic victory time at the NCAA Championship earlier this year, which was the sixth fastest in British history and made him the first European to win the US collegiate title. He has also run a wind-assisted 9.84s and qualified for the Olympics by winning the national title in June.
Based at the University of Houston in Texas, Hinchliffe was virtually unknown at the start of the Olympic year but there is no hiding now after beating the world champion. With a legend of US track and field in Carl Lewis in his corner, Lyles was aware of Hinchliffe but did not realise he was capable of winning a heat against him just yet.
“Yes and no,” the American said when asked if he was taken by surprise. “He’s a talented kid and he ran well at NCAA so I knew he was going to run well.”
But not that well, clearly. A little bruised by defeat, Lyles acknowledged Hinchliffe after crossing the finish line and would have taken note of his new rival. “He said well done,” Hinchliffe revealed. “I wasn’t thinking too much about him, he wasn’t near me. I’m running my race.”
Hinchliffe managed to steal the show from the first showdown between Lyles and Thompson. The Jamaican set the fastest time of the year, and ninth quickest of all time, with a 9.77 at his national championships in Kingston in June, a performance that marked him as the favourite for gold if he can repeat it in Paris
Lyles knows he is the one being chased. The American has been king of the sprinting world in the three years since Tokyo, dominating the world championship as part of a sprint double of 100m and 200m golds in Budapest last year. With the confidence to match, Lyles can become a true star on the purple track at the Stade de France dubbed the “fastest ever”.
But before we’ve even reached the Olympic final, he has to reckon with the fact he is no longer the fastest man at these Games – the only currency that counts on the track. Indeed, the last thing Lyles is likely to hear before the starting gun is fired in the men’s 100m final is a scream as Thompson takes to his block. As the Jamaican stepped away from his block, leant backwards and emptied his lungs, it felt its own message of intent to Lyles.
Hinchliffe may have his say and he could be joined in the final by Zharnel Hughes, Britain’s bronze medalist from the World Championship 100m last year. Hughes became the first British man to reach an Olympic 100m final in 21 years in Tokyo but was disqualified on the line due to a false start.
He qualified safely with a 10.03 and finished third in his heat. “That’s all I needed to do,” Hughes said. “I could have gotten a better start, I was a bit lazy in the start because the false start kind of threw me off a little bit so I just needed to stay relaxed. I knew I could pull through because I have one of the top ends in the world, so I just needed to relax.”
Meanwhile, there was heartbreak for Team GB’s Jeremiah Azu after he was disqualified from the 100m due to a false start in the first heat of the day. Azu pleaded his innocence but was eliminated. “It was the crowd noise, I reacted to a sound,” he said. “It’s an Olympic round, we’re all so excited, I don’t fault them. But we’re on the start line, somebody has reacted to something else going on.”
