British student sprinter Louie Hinchliffe shatters 10-second barrier in US21-year-old had asked Olympic great Carl Lewis for advice. And afterwards the 21-year-old from Sheffield revealed how a WhatsApp message to nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis asking him “Can you fix me?” had changed his life.
But, as he acknowledged, it has been some journey given that until the age of 16 he wanted to be a professional golfer. And that, when he went to the University of Lancaster to study management and IT at 18, he spent more time partying than running as there was no track nearby. “I would get on a bus twice a week, 30 minutes away, to train,’ he said. “I didn’t have any support, I was just a regular student.
“I had a couple of problems with my hamstring and my back,” said Hinchliffe. “And I didn’t have much guidance. He was like, let’s talk. We had a long phone call and he saw a lot of potential in me.”