Just after being eliminated from the men’s 100 metres competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Zharnel Hughes said he would not be competing in the men’s 200m race.
The record-breaking Anguillian athlete, who was competing for Great Britain, placed sixth in the semi-final heat of the 100m on Sunday, 4 August.
His race time of 10.01 seconds meant he did not progress to the final round.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Hughes said he was “gutted to have missed out in the 100m after a few weeks of trying to be race ready”, adding that “unfortunately, wasn’t meant to be this year”.
https://www.facebook.com/zharnel.hughes.9/posts/pfbid0PocQnLHgcUWWq7a8hTos5WWTCpDsFNy8iQ1NJm1PJTEUi21wHepHC8nswdKuLZsvl
He continued: “Picked up a hamstring tightness in the semis of the 100m and due to that, I will have to miss the 200m to focus on recovering.
“Thank you all for the unwavering support. This is not the end.”
Hughes was scheduled to run in heat four of the 200m competition on Monday. The final is taking place on Thursday.
The athlete was also due to run in the men’s 4x100m relay competition which begins with heats on Thursday. He did not given any further details about his participation.
A statement from British Athletics on Monday said: “Zharnel Hughes has withdrawn from the 200m heats tonight due to a hamstring tightness which requires monitoring for the next 48 hours.
“No decision has been taken as yet in relation to his relay involvement.”
Hughes has both the British 100m and 200m records and won his first global individual medal, a bronze, in the 100m at the 2023 World Championships.
