Zharnel Hughes sets world-leading 100m time in Jamaica
BySportsbeat
Published 12/06/2018 at 11:09 GMT
Sprinter Zharnel Hughes stormed to a stunning 100m victory at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica at the weekend with the fastest time in the world this year.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
The 22-year-old threw down a gauntlet to the rest of the world by clocking 9.91 (0.4m/s) in Kingston to become the joint second fastest ever British 100m sprinter.
His performance puts him behind only Linford Christie's 9.87 from 1993 on the UK all-time list, with his time equalling that of James Dasaolu from the British Championships in 2013.
Hughes demonstrated his 200m strength in Kingston as he moved through the field over the final 40m to beat USA's Noah Lyles, who also clocked his first legal sub-10 seconds time (9.93).
Jamaica's Yohan Blake finished in third with 10.00 as Hughes became the ninth British sprinter to legally break the 10-second barrier for the 100m.
It is the second time Hughes has gone sub-10 seconds, after running 9.99 to win the Boston Games 100m last month – although it did not count as he was aided by a 2.4m/sec tailwind.
"I am feeling really good, I have to give God thanks first for making this possible and my team," said Hughes, who moved to equal fourth on the European all-time list.
"My mum is in the stands so I want to dedicate this to her and my team."
Hughes, who was born in the British overseas territory of Anguilla, was part of England's gold medal-winning 4x100m team at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April.
He was not the only Brit to feature in Kingston either, with Matthew Hudson-Smith posting a solid 45.40 time for fourth in the men's 400m as Kirani James claimed victory in 44.35.
Elsewhere, Miguel Francis took third in the 200m with 20.59 (-0.2) as he continued his return to form, with Jamaica's Nigel Ellis coming first in 20.36 and America's Bryce Robinson in second.
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