A few days after shattering Linford Christie’s 30-year-old British 100m record, Zharnel Hughes is busy recalibrating his sights towards new heights – on the track and off.
Hughes’s time of 9.83 seconds at the New York City Grand Prix on Saturday made him the fastest man on the planet this year, and a genuine contender for gold at the world championships in Budapest this summer. At the age of 27 he believes he is ready “to be part of the rumble”.
“They’ve seen what I am coming with, so they know that I’m not one to mess about with,” he says of his rivals. “I’m ready to compete, I’m excited and I’m enjoying myself.”
It is almost a decade since Hughes was hailed as the “next Usain Bolt” after switching allegiances to Britain from the Caribbean island of Anguilla as a teenager. But while a serious knee injury and some false starts in major events have hindered his progress, the sense is that he is coming into his prime.
Asked how he has kicked on, Hughes stresses that he has become a lot hungrier and only took two weeks off at the end of last season. He also credits the work of his coach, Glenn Mills, who used to train Bolt, and acknowledges that his “bouncy” Adidas super spikes may have helped along the way.
But sitting on the desk in Jamaica where he plays a flight simulator for an hour every day, Hughes says that his love of planes has also helped him relax. “I don’t want to own my own airline, but I would definitely still love to work as a commercial or private pilot,” says Hughes, who is qualified to fly planes. “I would love to fly a Gulfstream G650. Yeah, that’s a beautiful aircraft.
“And as much as everything is going on around me with British records and stuff, I’m pretty chill. I tend to spend my time flying on my simulator and that’s what keeps me happy.”
Hughes says he is proud of being called “captain” by Bolt because of his love of planes, but his appreciation of the 100m world record-holder goes further than that.
“He’s the world’s fastest man and I’m just grateful and privileged to be in the same environment that he once was with coach Mills,” he says. “I always have my respect for Usain. Every time we see each other in the gym we always fist bump and ask each other how we are doing.”
Hughes believes he still has unfinished business in the 200m, an event he will run at next month’s Anniversary Games in London, which is close to a sellout having already sold 40,000 tickets. But for him all roads clearly lead to the world championships in August. “Obviously going to Budapest being a contender will be exciting,” he says. “And once I’m going through the rounds, everything else is possible. You just need to be a part of the rumble – and if you can be patient and the most relaxed person in the field then anything is possible.”
