Only twice in the past 30 years has a time of less than 10 seconds been necessary to claim victory in the men’s 100m at the UK Athletics Championships – but that could prove the minimum requirement for Britain’s Olympic hopefuls this weekend.
Rising 21-year-old sprint star Louie Hinchliffe, coached by athletics icon Carl Lewis at the University of Houston, will line up as the second-fastest European man this year after running 9.95 earlier in June.
Jeremiah Azu, who clocked a wind-assisted championship record 9.90 to win the British title in 2022, has also broken the 10-second barrier this year.
Reigning British champion and world bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes, who misses the championships as he recovers from a hamstring injury, is already assured of an Olympic 100m place.
That leaves two-time British champion Reece Prescod, European medallist Romell Glave and Eugene Amo-Dadzie – the self-styled ‘world’s fastest accountant’ – among those also battling to be part of Team GB.
The final British athletics squad for Paris 2024 will be announced on Friday, 5 July, following the championships in Manchester on 29 and 30 June.
To be assured of a chance to contest an individual event at the Olympics, athletes must achieve a top-two finish at the qualifiers, and also achieved the World Athletics qualification standard.
Keely Hodgkinson, Josh Kerr, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita, Molly Caudery and Laura Muir are among the other high-profile names set to compete at Manchester Regional Arena.