Quiet man Hinchliffe hoping to make a big noise in 100m

LOUIE HINCHLIFFE is very laid-back, to the extent that he arrived on the Eurostar into Paris unaware what day he was actually competing in the 100m at the Olympics.

- Matt Majendie

While his sprint rivals are usually amped up and talking their way to sprint glory, Hinchliffe is relaxed to the point it is occasionally maddening to coach Carl Lewis and the other support staff around him.

But unlike Noah Lyles's verbal diarrhoea en route to a double world title at the World Championships last year, the 22-year-old with the silent swagger has no plans to change his ways.

"I think I'll let my running do the talking," he said, with a smile. "I don't need to trash-talk." As for his chilled demeanour, he admits that might need a tweak in Paris and beyond. "People say I need to be more switched on and not too relaxed," he said, although his body language does not suggest he is planning to change his ways any time soon.

In any case, he argues, he is switched on when he needs to be and results seem to suggest he is going about things in the right way with such an easy-going approach.