Louie Hinchliffe: The 'unassuming' Sheffield schoolboy who is now one of world's fastest men

The former Notre Dame High School pupil made international headlines after becoming one of the fastest men in the world earlier this year, and has now sealed his place at the Olympics.

The Star spoke to Louie’s former PE teacher at Notre Dame, Richard Downs, about his special talent, what he was like as a boy and how proud the school is of his success.

Louie was always a gifted sprinter but few people expected him to rise to the top quite so quickly.

In May, at a National Collegiate Athletics Association Championships meeting in Arkansas, the 21-year old from Crosspool made the world sit up and take notice when he ran the 100m in 9.84 seconds.

‘He wasn’t a show-off’

That’s the fastest 100m in the world this year and the second fastest ever by a Briton - behind only Zharnal Hughes - though it should be noted that the 2.5m/s tail wind meant it didn’t technically count.

He did, however, clock a valid 10 seconds flat in May, before which his fastest time was 10.16s, and has now won the 100m title at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester to book his spot at the Paris Olympics.

Richard Downs is head of PE at Notre Dame High School, where he taught Louie between years seven and 11.

“Louie was already a very able sprinter when he joined the school,” he told The Star.

“He was already running for a club (Sheffield and Dearne Athletics Club) and was very well supported by his mum and dad.

“He also had the right mental attitude to go with that talent. He was very focused but he was very unassuming and he wasn’t a show-off.

New sprint star nearly became a golfer

“He was a cracking boy to work with and we all knew he was a special talent, but I don’t think anyone at the school expected him to reach the heights he has so soon. His progress since leaving Notre Dame has been huge.”

As Mr Downs points out, Louie is also a prodigiously talented golfer who played as a junior alongside Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown at Hallamshire Golf Club and until the age of 17 was focused on a career in the sport. His dad Stuart told the Yorkshire Post how ‘his sister was the athletics star growing up’, with Louie’s family expecting him to become a golfer.

Golf’s loss would be athletics’ gain.

Louie joined Lancaster University to study business and IT but he persisted with sprinting and, under the guidance of his club coach Paul Hone, his hard work began to pay off.

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In 2022, he won the English national 100m title and he competed for Washington State University before transferring to the University of Houston, where he has flourished under the tutelage of Olympic great Carl Lewis.

Asked whether Louie was the fastest pupil he’s ever taught, Mr Downs hesitates for a moment, recalling how another former student, the future Manchester City and England star Kyle Walker, whom he taught at High Storrs School, was ‘ridiculously fast’.

‘We’re so proud of him’

But he concludes: “Louie was the fastest. He used to tear up the track at Woodbourn Road.

“He was a really talented and lovely lad but I don’t think the indication was there when he was at Notre Dame that he would go on to do what he has done.

“Everyone at the school is so proud of him, and four or five of our staff were there at the weekend cheering him on in the rain in Manchester.

“We’re also very proud here of Chuk (Chukwuemeka Ossamor, who won the UK discus title in Manchester), especially given he hadn’t thrown a discus or a shot put until we got him doing it in PE.”

Louie’s sights are now firmly set on the Paris Olympics, and everyone at Notre Dame will be rooting for him this summer. Given how far he has come so quickly, it feels like anything is possible.

As Louie put it after securing the UK title: “It’s kind of surreal. I can’t really believe it because a couple of months ago no one really knew me.

“I’ve been working for two years now and it’s what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid.”