In just 17 days’ time British sprinter Zharnel Hughes will hope to be one of eight men lining up for the biggest race of all: the Olympic 100m final in the Stade de France, Paris.
It is the showpiece of the Games, where legends such as Usain Bolt, Jesse Owens and Linford Christie darted into the history books.
But despite Caribbean-born Hughes being Britain’s fastest man ever – and joint 17th in history – with a time of 9:83 seconds, finishing the final is anything but guaranteed at this level. Hughes false started in the 100m final in Tokyo and it has been eating away at him since.
And now there’s real depth within Team GB. Joining Hughes in the event will be Jeremiah Azu and the newly crowned British champion, US College sensation Louie Hinchcliffe – both of whom have run under 10 seconds this season.
Reece Prescod and Romell Glave have also topped Hughes this year but were not selected, with Hughes given special dispensation due to an injury earlier in the campaign.
Strong Team GB
“I think it is certainly [strong],” Hughes said of Team GB’s chances of a sprinting medal. “Because you have the likes of Louie [Hinchcliffe], who just got the British title, and then you have Jeremiah Azu doing his thing. He just ran his first sub-10, so it’s getting exciting.
“The guys are stepping up and it’s great to see that we are now able to produce top class performers, including myself, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much better we can actually give and show the world that we can be reckoned with.”
After the ghost Games of Tokyo, Hughes believes a strong British support across the Channel will lift Team GB’s track and field hopes as a whole.
“I’m confident, we’ve definitely stepped up on our level,” he added. “For instance [pole vault world indoor champion] Molly Caudery is doing extremely well and you have myself doing well.
“Now you have Jeremiah Azu stepping up his game. We have competitors all round now, so for instance, Amber Anning as well in the 400m. There are a lot of great prospects coming up.
“And I think that this time around will be a lot, much better, especially because there will be a crowd this time in Paris, we’ll have supporters, we’ll have families and friends coming across to support. So just the energy that we can feed off this time around will give us athletes the best performances that we could possibly get.
“I don’t have any doubts [about fans travelling]. The Eurostar is there! The plane ride is just up and down so I’m pretty sure there’ll be a lot of British fans over there to support us, which I’m looking forward to.”
Hughes on relays
Team GB finished 24th in the athletics table at Tokyo 2020, failing to win a gold medal for the first time since 1996. In the men’s 4x100m relay, where Britain have tended to pick up sprint medals, Team GB were also disqualified.
But that has not deterred Hughes, who will tune up for Paris 2024 at the London Diamond League meet this weekend, from believing a British quartet can bring home gold.
“I’m pretty confident with our relay team,” he said. “I have no doubts because at the end of the day, we have great chemistry.
“With the likes of Louie being there, there’s another sub-10 guy, so there’s a lot more speed where we can bring the baton around. I’m pretty sure when we all meet up in the camp, we’ll start to sharpen up on the little bits that we need to sharpen upon.
“We can’t get flustered about who’s running fast times right now because on the day, you can have an amazing fast four guys, but can you get the stick around?
“We know when the time is right, we know to step the game up. And we all have that confidence in ourselves, individually. Once we come together with that unity that we all have, we can create something magical.”
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