“The sky’s the limit” for Louie Hinchliffe, says Carl Lewis

US-based Sheffield sprinter makes his mark on first day of the UK Champs in Manchester as Daryll Neita takes women’s 100m title

British athletics fans caught their first sight of Louie Hinchliffe at the UK Championships on Saturday (June 29) and he didn’t disappoint. After impressing on the US collegiate circuit in recent weeks, the 21-year-old stormed to victory on a damp evening in Manchester to seal a spot in the GB team for Paris.

With Olympic selection now secure, he will go to the French capital aiming to make the 100m final at his first Games. After convincingly beating Jeremiah Azu and CJ Ujah to the national title this weekend – albeit in the absence of UK record-holder Zharnel Hughes – it is impossible to ignore his relay potential too.

How fast can he go in coming weeks? “The sky’s the limit!” said nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis, who coaches Hinchliffe at the University of Houston and who travelled to Manchester to watch his young charge fly to victory.

Hinchliffe’s rise through the ranks this summer is phenomenal. Last year he had a modest 100m best of 10.17 but caught the eye in May with a wind-assisted 9.84 in Arkansas followed by winning the prestigious NCAA title in 9.95 in Eugene at the start of this month.

His time in Manchester on Saturday wasn’t fast at 10.18 (-0.8) but the cool and wet conditions at just past 8pm weren’t conducive to quick performances as he won by seven hundredths of a second.

As a measure of his progress, he was only third in his heat at these championships two years ago in 10.42 despite enjoying a tailwind.

Hinchliffe is an unlikely sprint star. Relatively short in stature, he runs with a pronounced forward lean and unlike many shorter sprinters he has strong acceleration toward the end of his races.

Born in Sheffield – his dad is from Rotherham and mum from the Philippines – he played golf seriously until the age of 16 and briefly studied at Lancaster University, which coincidentally is not far from Manchester, before moving to the University of Houston.

A striking figure on the track and off it, in Manchester he was wearing safety pins as ear-rings under a ‘mullet’ haircut. Quietly spoken, he also took his post-race questions in his stride on Saturday.

“I’m just trying to take this all in and not get too ahead of myself, stay humble and take it in my stride,” said Hinchliffe. “The first conversation I had with coach Carl (Lewis), he…