Could Louie Hinchliffe be Team GB’s breakout Olympic

Britain enjoyed a successful European championships but a bigger story may be emerging across the Atlantic

As the British team bid arrivederci to Rome, and turned their sights towards next month’s Olympics in Paris, the mood was cautiously upbeat. True, no one in the squad had lit up the Eternal City with a performance for the ages. But 13 medals had been won, and the biggest names had delivered when their backs were against the wall.

The way that Dina Asher-Smith ran a sub 11-second 100m, after the worst start of her career, to win individual gold left a lingering impression. Keely Hodgkinson also deserves enormous credit for coming off her sickbed and using her street smarts to retain her 800m title. There is also a growing sense that the women’s 4x100m squad – Asher-Smith, Amy Hunt, Desiree Henry, Asha Phillip and Darryl Neita – could also do real damage at the Stade de France.