Zharnel Hughes WITHDRAWS from males’s 200m heats on Monday night time

Zharnel Hughes has pulled out of Monday night’s men’s 200m heats at the Paris Olympics following the recurrence of hamstring injury that disrupted his build up to the games.

Hughes, 29, endured a disappointing Sunday in the men’s 100m, where he could only muster a sixth-place finish in his semi-final with a time of 10.01 sec, meaning he didn’t qualify for the final.

That disappointment came almost a year after Hughes – who won gold at the 2022 European Championships – secured bronze at the World Championships.

And now, in further heartache for the Team GB star, it was announced on Monday that he would not run in the 200m heats due to a hamstring tightness.

The issue is set to be monitored over the next 48 hours, with Hughes not completely ruled out of the games, although it seems unlikely that he will be fit enough to be involved in the 4x100m relay later this week.

Zharnel Hughes has pulled out of Monday night’s men’s 200m heats at the Paris Olympics

Hughes’ build-up to the Olympics was dominated by fitness concerns, with the 29-year-old dealt a major blow last month when he suffered a hamstring injury. 

This was something the sprinter bemoaned in the aftermath of his semi-final disappointment on Sunday.

‘[It was] just last month,’ he said. ‘It’s not the easiest thing to come back from, especially what I had. 

‘I had a grade two [tear] on the outside of the hamstring, so obviously not getting me enough races to get me in race shape was my issue.’

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