Zharnel Hughes, representing Great Britain, broke his home country’s record, which had been valid for 30 years, on Saturday in New York. The time of 9.83 is the best result of the season in the world.
When Zharnel Hughes woke up on Saturday morning, he immediately wrote down the numbers 9.83. It was not only a wish, but also a prediction for the evening’s 100 meter race at the New York GP race.
Hughes, 27, still couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the winning time on the field clock: 9.83. One of the hardest sprint stars of the 1980s and 90s Linford Christie The British record, which had stood for 30 years, was improved by four hundredths.
– I respect Linford enormously. He cheers me on whenever I’m in the UK and occasionally helps me with training. I’m waiting to see him, shake his hand and say this took way too long,” Hughes told the website of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Among the European runners, only the reigning Olympic champion Marcel Jacobs has run harder, 9.80.
– 9.83 is a dream I wrote down this morning. I don’t believe that to be true. My coach said I would run a record in New York.
With Hughes’ coach at Glen Mills there has been cause for celebration in New York before. In 2008, his star coach Usain Bolt broke the 100 world record there for the first time with a time of 9.72. Under Mills’ coaching, Bolt became the best sprinter of all time, whose world record of 9.58 no one else has come close to.
Hughes lives in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, where he trains with Mills’ elite group of sprinters. The pattern makes sense, because Hughes is half-Jamaican on his mother’s side and he comes from the other side of the Atlantic from the British overseas territory of Anguilla. The small island in the Caribbean Sea has just over 15,000 inhabitants.
Hughes has been an important link in the Great Britain relay team for several years. The British have won bronze and silver in the previous two World Championships. At the Tokyo Olympics, the team’s silver medals were taken CJ Ujah because of the doping cart. Hughes has personal medals from the European Championships, including gold in the 100m in 2018 and in the 200m last year.
In New York, Hughes beat, among others, the world champion by Christian Coleman. The Brit will go to the World Championships in Budapest in August with confidence.
– Everything is possible. The great thing about this is that we haven’t even done any actual speed training. This record came with raw speed and endurance. My coach is going to be blown away by this, Hughes said.