Zharnel Hughes

Career Youth career Hughes was born in The Valley, Anguilla, where his mother worked as a housekeeper and his father as a taxi driver. His family is Jamaican on his mother's side and several of his relatives did sprinting at a low level. Hughes recognised his talent for the sport at the age of ten, when he won several races at a local school sports day where he ran for Orealia Kelly Primary School (formerly Stoney Ground Primary). He made his first international appearance for Anguilla at the 2010 CARIFTA Games at the age of fourteen, placing eighth in the 100 metres final. The following year he improved to sixth at the 2011 CARIFTA Games and made the final at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, having his first runs under 11 seconds that year.

Hughes established himself in regional age category competitions in 2012, setting 100 m and 200 metres championship records at the 2012 Leeward Islands Junior Championships in Athletics, taking 100 m bronze at the 2012 CARIFTA Games, then a 100 m silver and 200 m gold at the 2012 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics. He was selected to represent Anguilla at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics (his global debut) and was a semi-finalist in the short sprints, as well as setting a national record of 20.90 seconds. He ended that year with a personal best of 10.42 seconds for the 100 m. Hughes continued to progress in the 2013 season, winning 100 m gold at both the 2013 CARIFTA Games and the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. He also made his first appearance in senior international competition at the 2013 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, reaching the final and recording a personal best of 10.23 seconds in the heats. This time ranked him as the number one under-20 athlete in the world that year. He focused on the 200 m the rest of that year, winning the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics in a championship record of 20.33, but falling short

Senior career Following his successes in 2014, the question of his eligibility for the 2016 Summer Olympics arose, as Anguilla was not a nation recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The move received a mixed reaction from British athletes, with Richard Kilty saying that several national team members were unhappy with non-British-born athletes transferring to the team (thus increasing competition for funding). Former British sprinters Darren Campbell and Daniel Caines supported Hughes, noting that Britain was the home nation for people from its colonies.

He began his 2015 season with a new national record of 20.15 seconds for the 200 m in March, placing second to Anaso Jobodwana at the Cayman Invitational. Hughes made his Diamond League debut in June at the adidas Grand Prix in New York, where he was commended for almost beating world champion Usain Bolt. His first British national title win came at the 2015 British Athletics Championships at the start of July, gaining him selection for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. Wins over 200 m at the London Grand Prix and Athletissima meets moved him to the top of the Diamond League rankings. His new best of 20.05 seconds at the London meet also made him Europe's top ranked sprinter. He improved further in the 200 metres World Championships final in Beijing, recording a time of 20.02 seconds to place fifth while his clubmate Usain Bolt defended his world title.

Hughes missed the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio due to a tear in his right knee ligament, sustained in a fall earlier in the season. He competed at the 2016 British Athletics Championships against doctor's warnings, but could only manage fourth. He also attempted to persevere at the 2016 European Athletics Championships, but dropped out of the heats and brought his season to a close. His injury rehabilitation in the 2017 season was slow, and he continued to experience pain while running, while affected his performances that year. Competing with the British 4 × 100 metres relay quartet, the team failed to finish at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, but set a championship record of 38.08 seconds to win at the 2017 European Team Championships. Hughes placed fourth in the 200 m at the Adidas Boost Boston Games and 2017 British Athletics Championships. On the 2017 IAAF Diamond League circuit he was fifth at the London Grand Prix then had a season's best of 20.22 seconds for third at the Rabat Meeting. With his teammates Hughes won in the 4 × 100 metres relay, where he ran the second leg alongside Reuben Arthur, Richard Kilty and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey for England.

Hughes proved himself among the world's best 100 m runners in the 2018 season. He improved his best to 10.01 seconds in February, ran a wind-assisted 9.99 to win at the Boston Games (beating Yohan Blake and Tyson Gay), then set a world-leading time of 9.91 seconds in June, becoming the 129th person to break the 10-second barrier. This raised him to second on the all-time British rankings behind Linford Christie, and equal with James Dasaolu.

In 2021, Hughes reached the 100 m final at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, but was disqualified for a false start. Hughes and the British team placed second in the 4 × 100 relay, but were disqualified when teammate CJ Ujah was found guilty of doping.

At the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany, Hughes won gold in the 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay along with silver in the 100 m.

In June 2023 he broke Linford Christie's British 100 m record when he recorded a time of 9.83 seconds in New York at the New York Grand Prix.

In July 2023, at the British Athletics Championships, Hughes ran 19.77, faster than John Regis's national 200 metre record, but with a slightly too strong following wind (2.4 m/s) for record purposes, although his winning margin of 0.66 seconds was the largest winning margin for the men's 200 metres at these championships for over thirty years. A few days later, he ran a legal 19.73 at the London Diamond League, setting a new UK record and European sea-level record. By breaking 20 seconds, he became the third Briton and the 54th man in history to break 10 seconds for the 100 metres and 20 seconds for the 200 metres.

The following month, Hughes won a bronze medal in the 100 m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Hughes was given a medical exemption to miss to 2024 British Athletics Championships after injuring his hamstring at a meeting in Jamaica. He was selected to compete in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Hughes went out in the 100 metres semi-finals at the Games in Paris and withdrew from the 200 metres before the heats. He won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay.

In December 2024, it was announced that Hughes had signed up for the inaugural season of the Michael Johnson founded Grand Slam Track.

On 2 August 2025, Hughes won the 100 m final at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in a time of 9.94 seconds and won the 200 metres the following day to claim his fifth British outdoor title.

At the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, Hughes won the silver medal in the 200 metres, before winning gold as part of both the men's 4 × 100 metres relay and 4 × 100 metres mixed relay teams.

Bests Hughes is the first non-USA and non-Jamaican man to break 9.85 s for 100 metres and 19.85 s for 200 metres, a feat he achieved in July 2023 ten days after turning 28.

Personal bests

His 200 m time is a European sea-level record.

Seasons bests Times given in seconds and senior world rank in parentheses

International competitions

Track records As of 15 September 2024, Hughes holds the following track records for 100 metres and 200 metres.

100 metres LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDate Baie-Mahault 10.03 –0.9 18/05/2019

200 metres LocationTimeWindspeedm/sDate Manchester 19.77 +2.3 09/07/2023