by Stuart Weir
The 2025 Novuna British Athletics Championships, Zarnel Hughes, double British champion and a Dad! by Stuart Weir
Zharnel Hughes – double British champion and a dad! Given his achievements and the British selection system, Zharnel Hughes could easily have told the selectors that he would run in one of the sprints at trials but would like to be selected for both the 100 m and 200 m at the World Championships.
But no, he ran a prelim and final in both, won both and looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself. And then he took the time to interact with fans, offering selfies and autographs. Having won the 100 in a windy 9.94 on day one, he dominated the 200 on day 2, but rather than easing off when the win was secured, he raced to a championship record of 19.90. You can feel the energy in his after-race comments: “It was a good contest, I just had to work a bit in the home straight, but I trusted myself. Yesterday (100m win) was pretty cool, but I wanted the 200m title more. My coach will get me a lot sharper for the Championships, so I am excited to see what I can do in Tokyo. Great to get 19.9 today. Let’s go!”
I spoke to Zharnel before the champs and he talked about not being based in UK and how much he enjoyed coming to here to compete: “The Birmingham stadium is amazing. Last time I ran there was the Commonwealth Games and the support was just top tier. I mean, it’s always like that anytime you’re running in the UK, the support – you can expect that kind of support from the crowd. And I’m looking forward to racing on that track just to show my love and my support back to them for all the love and support that they give to me”. Those were not just words as Zharnel went out of his way to engage with the fans, pose for selfies etc. As the photos show he ran with a smile on his face.
Asked about his hopes for the season in a World Championship year, he spoke about “competing well and getting through the rounds. And doing my very best. Hopefully doing well in the finals. Obviously for me, a medal, that’s the most important one. I want to lower my times as well. I would love to get close to all the times that I ran and go even faster, but definitely I want to be on the podium that’s the highlight for me”. He added a comparison with last year: “I’m feeling pretty good, nice and strong. Thankfully I’m getting to run because last year was not good for me, so I’m just grateful each time I go there to compete, I’m able to cross the finish line feeling healthy and live to fight another day”.
Finally he spoke about how becoming a father had been life-changing: “It is my biggest blessing to this day. And forever will be. One of those feelings I’ve never experienced before. The moment he was born, I broke down and just couldn’t believe it. You know, I’m a dad. And just to hear him cry out and stuff, I get that feeling. And when I put his clothes on him for the first time, it was just an amazing feeling but coming home the first two days was stress. The first two days was a lot of stress, but now he’s all grown up. He’s six months now. So starting to teethe, so a lot of dribbling all over the place. But he’s a sweet boy. I feel as if I’ve changed as an athlete. Yes, in regards to knowing that, OK, this is my life, I always knew it was my job. But now I know, I have to take care of my son. So I’m just making sure I’m very precise with everything, staying on top of everything. I’m very, very consistent, my sleep, my recovery, my training – just trying to get better each day and just looking over at him every day and hearing him laugh. Whenever I’m leaving the house, he’s smiling at me and he’s waiting for me to come home and stuff like that, so I feel as if my mindset has been changing in regards to a lot of things. Like nothing else does really matter to me. It’s just my son. As long as I’m making him happy, I’m providing for him and he’s happy. The family is good.. I’m good”. And it hasn’t done his running any harm.
photo: Getty Images for #BritishAthletics
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