Paris Olympics 2024: Noah Lyles beaten by Team GB's Louie Hinchliffe in stunning 100m heat
By Leon Imber
Updated 03/08/2024 at 15:49 GMT+1
Team GB's Louie Hinchliffe ran a spectacular 100m heat to edge favourite Noah Lyles to the finish line and qualify for Sunday's semi-finals. Lyles is on the hunt for his maiden Olympic gold medal, and has been backed to achieve that after winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay at the 2023 World Championships. Hinchliffe, however, stunned the Paris crowd, clocking 9.98s.
‘An absolute flyer!’ - Team GB debutant Hinchliffe beats Lyles in the 100m heats
Video credit: TNT Sports
Louie Hinchliffe sprung a surprise on his Olympic debut at the Stade de France as he edged out men's 100m favourite Noah Lyles to win his heat, booking a place in Sunday's semi-final in the process.
American Lyles, who picked up a trio of golds at the 2023 World Championships alongside triumphing at the London Diamond League last month, crossed the line in 10.04s - 0.08s behind his British opponent.
"I wasn't happy about London," Hinchliffe told Eurosport after the heat. "I got fourth there by quite a bit of a margin so I just wanted to get my game back here and yeah I did it."
The Olympic debutant was modest in his assessment after beating current world champion Lyles.
"Yeah it's a great achievement," he said. "But the job's not done, its only the heat, can't get too ahead of myself, got to do it in the semi and the final."
Hinchliffe added he is "not going to think too much" about his semi-final.
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Following the heat, Lyles told Eurosport: "I’ve worked very hard, I’ve done a lot of races in Paris here, just to get that reaction trying to get my face out there so to see it all work and come together, it’s very exciting to see.
"It is difficult, I downplay my competitors for sure and coming in with a new 60 best and there’s no reason to really put any emphasis on it but these guys proved to me that they are ready to compete and I said alright I can’t do that anymore so I will promise you that will not happen again."
Both Lyles and Hinchliffe suffered a sluggish start but the British sprinter grew into the race with fantastic pace, and an exemplary final 20 metres to cross before Lyles.
In the final heat, Team GB's Zharnel Hughes suffered a poor start but salvaged a strong enough performance to finish third and qualify for Sunday's semi-final.
Hughes clocked 10.03s, finishing behind USA's Fred Kerley and Botswana's Letsile Tebogo.
Elsewhere, Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Lamont Marcell Jacobs clocked 10.05s, finishing second in his heat behind Nigeria's Kayinsola Ajayi to cement his place in Sunday's semi-final.
Heat seven saw American Kenneth Bednarek post the joint-fastest time of the session, 9.97s. Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme finished just 0.01 behind his opponent.
In the opening heat, Team GB's Jeremiah Azu was sent off the track after being shown a red card for a false start, ending his hopes for men's 100m glory. Canada's Aaron Brown also took off too quickly and was shown red.
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‘The equipment rarely lies’ – Azu protests fall flat as Team GB star DQ’d from 100m
Video credit: TNT Sports
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