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.

It could be one of Britain's lesser-known names who provides one of the stories of the championships - and potentially even the Olympic Games themselves.

Sheffield-born Hinchliffe announced himself as a genuine contender for Paris qualification after following up a remarkable wind-assisted time of 9.84 in May by becoming the first European man in history to win the United States' collegiate 100m title.

In doing so he recorded his first legal run under 10 seconds to go sixth on the British all-time list, as he continues his rapid development under the guidance of nine-time Olympic gold medallist Lewis.

Azu declared his long-term goal is the British record after he became the first Welsh sprinter to break the 10-second barrier in wind-legal conditions when he clocked 9.97 last month, but first he will seek to regain his British title on Saturday.

Prescod, British champion in 2017 and 2018, ran the 10.00 seconds standard at the start of June, while Glave clocked 10.05 for European bronze and CJ Ujah has a best of 10.07 since returning from a doping ban.

With relay places also up for grabs, other contenders include Ojie Edoburun, with a best time of 10.10 this year, and Amo-Dadzie, who became the joint-fourth fastest British male of all time with 9.93 last year and has run 10.12 in 2024.