Zharnel Hughes stormed across the finish line in Atlanta with a blistering 19.55 seconds in the 200 meters. But is this the beginning of another historic season for Hughes, or just a flash of brilliance?
The race at Piedmont Park under the sharp Atlanta lights was a statement. Fresh off dominating Miami with 19.86 in the 200m and 44.32 in the 400m, Jereem Richards entered Atlanta favored.
But Hughes, calm despite a pre-race scare of cramping in his left quad, executed a flawless race strategy. He powered through the bend and held his form to cross first, leaving Richards to settle for second with a solid 19.63 and South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk third in 20.03.
“Long,” Hughes chuckled when asked how the race felt in a post race interview.
“But I was kind of worried because before the start, I was starting to cramp in my left quad… I just tried to stay relaxed as much as possible.”
It was a revealing moment for the sprinter whose career has often been interrupted by injuries, notably back issues that derailed his performance at the 2015 World Championships, where he believed he was on course for a sub-20 clocking in the final. But in Atlanta, Hughes showed composure and class, recalling what it takes to compete with the world’s best.
When asked about his throwback to the golden 2019 season, Hughes was reflective yet optimistic.
“Just keep showing up, competing at the best of my ability, showing up with the good guys… competing early in the season already with the Grand Slam track, that’s helped me a lot,” he said.
A Steady Build-Up to Atlanta
Before his Atlanta triumph, Hughes’ 2025 outdoor season had been steady, if not yet explosive. At the GC Foster Classic in Kingston on April 5, he opened with a 20.41 in the 200m, finishing second to Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake.
Later that evening, at the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet, he trimmed his time to 20.37, taking another second-place finish behind the USA’s Kenny Bednarek.
Progress was clear in Miami on May 4, where Hughes posted 20.13 in a stacked field, narrowly edged out by Oblique Seville and Andre De Grasse. Each race showed incremental gains in speed and race sharpness, a build-up that paid off handsomely in Atlanta.
“I kind of know where to kick,” Hughes said of his race strategy.
“I just executed that and trusted myself to stay relaxed.”
It’s a formula that worked to perfection, one reminiscent of the tactics and confidence that carried him through 2019, when he clinched both the British 100m and 200m titles and anchored Team GB to a 4x100m World Championships silver, setting a European record of 37.36.
Is 2025 the Year?
The Atlanta performance was a signal that Zharnel Hughes might be on track to replicate, or perhaps surpass, his 2019 achievements. With consistent race exposure in high-caliber meets and his health seemingly under control, Hughes is positioning himself as a genuine contender in the sprints this season.
If the Grand Slam circuit has shown anything so far, it’s that Hughes is steadily finding his stride, faster, sharper, and hungrier.
With the World Championships on the horizon, the sprint world might be about to witness another electric chapter in the career of Zharnel Hughes.
