Great Britain’s speed king Zharnel Hughes admits Olympic heartbreak inspired him to his historic 100m bronze at the World Championships.
The 28-year-old clocked 9.88 seconds to finish third in Sunday’s night final – less than an hour after Katarina Johnson-Thompson won heptathlon gold in Budapest.
Hughes became the first British man to win an individual 100m sprint medal at the worlds in 20 years – since Darren Campbell’s bronze in 2003.
The USA’s Noah Lyles took the title in 9.83 seconds with Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo winning silver, just a thousandth of a second ahead of Hughes.
It marks Hughes’ comeback after he was disqualified for a false start in the Olympic 100m final.
He said: “The heartbreak I’ve been through from Tokyo was devastating. Last year, I missed out on the finals. I got knocked out in the semis. I told myself this time, ‘I’m not getting knocked out whatsoever. I’m going to give it my very best’.
“I got through that semis and I told myself in the warm-up, ‘believe Zharnel. You got this’.
“I kept it all in. I cried a lot but lessons were learnt and I dug deep. It’s been years of trying, years of lessons – I wouldn’t call it failure – years of lessons.
“Doubts were there. People probably didn’t believe in me as much but I just need to believe in myself. Over the years the speed has always been there but the mind wasn’t aligned properly. Now it’s instinct.
“This morning I wrote down, ‘get a medal’. I thought I won. Being in the race, it looks a lot closer but a medal is a medal.”
The European 200m champion went into the race as the fastest man in the world this year and was boosted after defending champion Fred Kerley crashed out in the semi final, along with Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs.
Hughes, ranked 12th in the world ahead of the championships, had qualified fourth fastest after running 9.93s in his semi.
Yet he had struggled with a slow start in the heat and semi and, despite the fastest reaction time in the final, still needed to recover in the last 50m to ensure he snatched a podium place in a tight race.
It caps a remarkable summer for the Anguilla-born star, who trains under Usain Bolt’s former coach Glen Mills, after he broke two long-standing British records.
In June, he shattered Linford Christie’s 30-year 100m record by running 9.83s in New York.
A month later in London, he broke John Regis’ 200m mark to post 19.73s. Hughes is now eyeing the 200m and 4x100m relay.
Eugene Amo-Dadzie, an accountant who is due back to work as a senior management accountant for property developer Berkeley Group on August 29, bowed out in the semi-final after running 10.03s – still quicker than Olympic champion Jacobs.
Reece Prescod ran 10.26s and also failed to qualify, ending his championships as the 25-year-old pulled out of the 4x100m relay squad last week.
“The favourite is Thompson”-Boldon highlights Jamaican champion as man to beat in 100m in Paris
Trinidadian four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon has named Jamaican sprinting sensation Kishane Thompson as his favourite to take 100m gold at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Thompson, 23, is currently the world leader in the event after running a personal best 9.77 to win the 100m title at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston in June.
The MVP Track Club-trained sprinter also produced times of 9.82 and 9.84 in the heats and semi-finals, respectively, at those national championships and, most recently, ran 9.91 shutting down to win at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Hungary on July 9.
“Thompson is the favourite,” Boldon said in an interview with LetsRundotcom on YouTube on Friday.
“I know Noah (Lyles) is the World champion. I think Noah made it a little bit more interesting by running that 9.81 into a headwind which kind of almost converts to a 9.77 but there’s no way you can look at the way in which Thompson ran that 9.77 and just go ‘Oh Noah will beat him.’ Noah has his hands full with that guy,” Boldon said.
Blazing speed acknowledged, one thing that Thompson lacks that his other competitors don’t is experience competing at the highest level of the sport with this being his first time representing Jamaica at any level.
If there is anything to prevent Thompson from delivering on the form that he’s shown so far this season, Boldon believes that would be this lack of experience on a stage like the Olympic Games compared to his peers.
“There are things which I see people completely ignoring. Kishane Thompson has not been under the microscope of Olympic favourite. Rounds are a great equalizer. Noah has the medals that he does because of how well he runs rounds. Is Noah suddenly a lock for the silver? No but he does have his hands full,” he said.
“There are others who are going to be in the 100m that are used to the pressure and pressure is a big thing. If he’s able to pull this off, you write books about stuff like that,” he added.
Thompson's quest for Olympic glory will begin in the heats of the men's 100m beginning on Saturday' August 3.
Jamaica’s Powell, T&T’s Bertrand among podium finishers at Holloway Pro Classic in Gainesville
Jamaica’s Jevaughn Powell and Trinidad & Tobago’s Leah Bertrand were among the Caribbean podium finishers at Friday’s Holloway Pro Classic in Gainesville, Florida.
Powell, who took third in the 400m at both the NCAA Championships and Jamaican National Championships in June, completed his final preparation for Paris with a 20.21 clocking for second in the 200m on Friday.
American Erriyon Knighton ran 19.92 to win while another American, Robert Gregory, ran 20.33 in third.
Bertrand, fresh off her second national 100m title in June, ran 11.18 for third behind American Candice Hill and Nigerian Favour Ofili. Hill and Ofili both ran the same time of 11.07.
The upcoming Olympic Games in Paris will be the first for the 21-year-old Ohio State Junior.
Bertrand's countrywoman, Tyra Gittens, was second in the long jump with a best mark of 6.37m in the sixth and final round. The event was won by American Tionna Tobias with a massive personal best of 6.94m while countrywoman Jasmine Todd was third with 6.17m.
Bahamian Charisma Taylor, who will be competing in the 100m hurdles in Paris, finished third in the triple jump on Friday with 13.63m.
American’s Kenturah Orji and Jasmine Moore finished first and second with 14.08m and 14.06m, respectively.
Jamaica’s Skyler Franklin ran 51.01 for third in the women’s 400m behind Americans Aaliyah Butler (50.14) and Bailey Lear (50.51).
Jamaica’s Williams, T&T’s Richards secure wins at Spitzen Leichtathletik in Luzern
Jamaica’s Stacey-Ann Williams and Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards were the only Caribbean winners at Tuesday’s Spitzen Leichtathletik Meet in Luzern, Switzerland.
Williams turned back the challenge of Dutchwoman Lisanne de Witte and Switzerland’s Annina Fahr to win in 50.58, her second fastest time this season, trailing behind her 50.56 to finish second at Jamaica’s National Championships in June.
De Witte and Fahr’s times in second and third were 51.99 and 52.08, respectively.
Richards, the 2017 World Championship bronze medallist and two-time Commonwealth Champion, all in the 200m, won the half-lap event on Tuesday in 20.19 ahead of the Zimbabwean pair Makanakaishe Charamba (20.42) and Tapiwanashe Makarawu (20.48).
The 30-year-old Trinidadian will also compete in the 400m in Paris. He won gold in the distance at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.
Another Jamaican Olympian, Lanae-Tava Thomas, was narrowly beaten by the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai in the 200m.
Gbai’s winning time of 22.57 just beat out Thomas’s 22.60 while Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji was just behind in third in 22.61.
Kemba Nelson ran 11.21 to finish third overall in the women’s 100m behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.17) and Kambundji (11.20).
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