Louie Hinchliffe beats US star Noah Lyles and Zharnel Hughes makes progress, but Jeremiah Azu is undone by a false start in qualifying heats at the Stade de France
The fortunes of Britain’s Olympic hopefuls in the men’s 100m could barely have been more contrasting in the qualifying heats on Saturday morning (August 3) at the Stade de France.
Mixed fortunes for British
While Louie Hinchliffe’s rapid rise continued as he came first in a field that included American superstar Noah Lyles and Zharnel Hughes also progressed to the semi-finals, Jeremiah Azu’s campaign was over before it had even begun after he was disqualified for a false start.
The Welshman did attempt to run under protest, saying: “I heard something and I just reacted.” However, his appeal was rejected.
“It’s a shame, the crowd is so excited, they have got the pole vault going on, the French fans are in here,” he said. “It’s a shame they did not let me run under protest. I am not sure what rules are being used.
“I was saying I want to run under protest. Any other race they allow you to run and then afterwards you review it. It’s the Olympics so it’s clearly different rules.”
It was a very different story for Hinchliffe. The NCAA and British champion, based at the University of Houston in Texas and coached by nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis, was sampling his first experience of these Games.
If he was fazed by the prospect of stepping out on to the purple track then he certainly didn’t show it and showed an excellent closing surge to clock 9.98 (-0.2) and come home ahead of Lyles’ 10.04.
“It’s amazing,” he said of his first race in the Olympic cauldron. “That environment brings the best out of all of us. You have to make the most of it, use it to your advantage.
“The pressure, the environment will bring more out of me, trying to get to an Olympic final.”
The pre-race advice from Lewis had been for Hinchliffe to stick to his own race plan and to block out the illustrious company he was surrounded by.
“It’s a good feeling,” said the 22-year-old when asked how it felt to beat the reigning 100m and 200m world champion. “I wasn’t really thinking too much about him, he wasn’t really near me.”
The next step to negotiate is Sunday evening’s semi-finals, but does Hinchliffe now feel a medal could be within his grasp?
“I don’t know. I’m just running my races at the moment,” he said. “I’m not thinking too much about results. I don’t want to chase results.”
Jeremiah Azu protests (Getty)
The Briton was third-fastest overall in qualifying, with the American pair Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley both clocking 9.97. Jamaica’s world leader Kishane Thompson (10.00) and his fellow countryman Oblique Seville (9.99) also progressed with the minimum of fuss and Italian defending champion Marcell Jacobs went through, too, coming second in heat five with 10.05.
Hughes was given a stern test, drawn in the same heat as Kerley and Botswanan talent Letsile Tebogo. The former European champion, who knows a thing or two about false starting at an Olympic Games after doing so in the Tokyo final three years ago, was tested even further when Canadian Aaron Brown was disqualified for that very infringement.
But Hughes recovered from a poor start to finish third behind Kerley and Tebogo with 10.03, albeit he is not looking quite as sharp as last summer, having just returned from a hamstring injury.
“I was a bit lazy at the start – the false start kind of put me off a little bit so I needed to stay relaxed,” he said. “I pulled through because I’ve got one of the best top end [speeds] in the world so I just needed to relax.
“It was an amazing atmosphere. I was listening to it in the warm-up area and I was just blown away because we haven’t heard this noise before. It almost sounds like football was going on in there.
“Every time you stand outside a football stadium you can definitely hear the crowd and it’s so lovely to hear the fans being here. The support from the stands when you come out is just absolutely amazing.”
Lyles is planning to play to that audience in the coming rounds as he goes in search of his first Olympic title. The American admitted to being a little surprised by coming second to Hinchliffe, saying: “[Racing at the Olympics] wasn’t tougher but I more expected that they [the opposition] would just fall in line. And they didn’t, they took it as their chance of ‘I’ve got one shot’ and they are going to take it.
“I should have expected that, knowing this is the Olympics. But this is my first time in the Olympic 100m. I didn’t and that’s on me but I am not going to let that happen again. Now I can’t hold back.”
Last year’s three-time world champion added: “This is a lot different to Tokyo. Last time it was no fans, no energy, back then I was fighting to get into the conversation but now I am the headline of sprint.
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“I am going on The Tonight Show, everyone knows my name. It comes with its own challenges. It’s been very hard to move throughout the [athletes’] village, I have to constantly go out with the hat, glasses and mask and 20 per cent of everybody still knows me regardless.
“It has been a different set of challenges. But keeping my mindset has been the main goal, keeping my energy and finding time to relax.
“This is more fun than the World Championships. I had to fight to prove I was fastest and this time a lot of people know it and I already have the target on my back.”
What time does he think it will take to win the gold medal?
“I don’t know but I’m going to run it.”
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