A cameo appearance in the two-hour documentary about Usain Bolt on the BBC last week caught quite neatly the dual threads in the career of Zharnel Hughes. The focus was on Bolt in the final of the 200m at the world championships in Beijing two years ago, but at a respectful distance behind the Jamaican came the tall, long-striding, figure of Hughes. Sandwiched between Justin Gatlin in lane three and Bolt in lane five, Hughes finished fifth in his first major championships at the age of 20 in a personal best time of 20.02 seconds.
The run, just a matter of months after Hughes, born in Anguilla and educated in Jamaica, had taken up British citizenship, seemed to justify the willingness of GB Athletics to open its doors. It also hinted at the talent of the boy who earned the tag of “the next Usain Bolt” through his record-breaking exploits at Kingston College in Jamaica. Freeze the snapshot from that night in Beijing and, two years on, the British public are still waiting for the next frame from the 22-year-old who trains with the Racers Track Club in Jamaica under the guidance of Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach. Nobody is more aware of the need to fulfil that promise than Hughes. A ligament injury kept him out of the Olympics in Rio and his place in the GB team for the London world championships was only secured controversially ahead of Adam Gemili, who was just a beat off claiming a bronze in the 200m in Rio. Hughes could only finish fourth in the GB trials in Birmingham. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, another Jamaican-based US college import, and Danny Talbot took the automatic places and Hughes was handed the third spot ahead of Gemili.
Hughes starts his 200m campaign tomorrow night with a new era laid out before him. For the first time in nearly a decade the 200m line-up at a major championships will not feature Bolt, which means that more than the consolation prizes are within the grasp of the eight finalists on Thursday night. “The medals are there,” Hughes says. “It’s who wants it the most. Every one of the guys on that startline will be gunning for gold and it’s a great opportunity for me. If I go out there in the early rounds and do what I can do I’ll be running the final in front of a London crowd. That’s a dream.”
In the aftermath of Beijing, Hughes seemed overawed by the company he was keeping. Despite dismissing Bolt as a “guy I see in training every day”, Hughes has taken time to come to terms with his talent. Like Shara Proctor, the British long jumper, Hughes is a graduate of the only running track on the tiny island of Anguilla in the Eastern Caribbean, a British overseas territory.
“We never wore running spikes,” he recalls. “We just ran barefoot on the grass. Every sport was played there — cricket, football, track and field. But I appreciate every single step on the way, starting with the coaching which set up the foundations for me to improve and develop mental strength.”
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Hughes could have run for Jamaica, the home of his mother, but chose Britain where he would be better funded and the competition would be less fierce. Or so he thought. But Hughes has arrived in the middle of a revival for British sprinting. In Mitchell-Blake he has also met a fellow traveller. Before winning the trials, Mitchell-Blake had not raced in Britain since leaving the London borough of Newham for Jamaica 10 years ago but his personal best of 19.95sec puts him alongside Gemili as the only British athlete to run sub-10 for 100m and sub-20 for 200m.
Also in the line-up in London will be Wayde van Niekerk, the 400m world and Olympic champion, Isaac Makwala of Botswana, and Yohan Blake, Bolt’s Jamaican teammate. By the time of the 200m final, van Niekerk and Makwala could have run five races in five days, a schedule that would surely play into the hands of specialists such as Hughes. “For me, relaxation is the key to competing,” says Hughes. “I will try to block out the crowd and not overthink things. I’ve got to stick to my race plan and remember all the hard work, blood and sweat that has got me here.” Time to turn the talk into deed. “It’s coming, man,” he says.
ON TV TOMORROW
World Athletics Championships
BBC2 and Eurosport 1, 6pm