How Olympic Sprinter Zharnel Hughes Aims to Take Home Gold at Paris 2024
The Paris Olympics 2024 is around the corner, and with it, a sense of hopefulness as Great Britain puts forward their most promising athletes. One of whom, Zharnel Hughes, will be heading to Paris with the goal of winning his first Olympic medal.
Hughes enjoyed a hugely successful 2023, breaking two British sprint records. Men's Health sat down with him to find out what makes a record holder tick, the methods behind his accomplishments and how he handles the pressure.
'I’m a positive person, my glass is always half-full,' says Hughes, 'so any setbacks I have had in my career I have bounced back from, and they have made me stronger. People will point at the Tokyo Olympics and my disqualification in the final, and of course it hurt at the time.'
Hughes had a knee ligament injury which stopped him competing in 2016, and subsequently, at Tokyo 2020, he had a false start in the 100m final which saw him forgo the number one spot. 'I could have easily given up with all the adversity that was going on,' he says, 'but I dug deeper and since then I have gone out and broken the British records in both the 200m and 100m.'
Despite the heartbreak of his near misses in previous years, Hughes is spurred on by his accomplishments and is optimistic about this summer's competition. 'I am now in a place where I am excited by Paris and what the future holds for me,' he says. 'I am feeling great and breaking those records has given me huge confidence that I belong at the top.'
Hughes will participate in the 100m and 200m races at this year's Paris Olympics. Is there pressure? Of course, but it's something the sprinter welcomes. 'I accept nerves. Because you need nerves to execute your performances,' he says. 'When you're nervous, it’s under control, it’s a good thing. It gets you psyched up, it gets you pumped, it gets the adrenaline going, and that way you’re all fired up to ensure that you’re getting the best performance from your body. So I accept nerves.
When it comes to recovering from intense training sessions and staying in peak shape, physically and mentally, Hughes ensures he cuts down on screen time, takes ice baths, and ticks all the boxes with good quality nutrition and sleep. 'I do ice baths because when you’re training so hard, you really need them, as much as I don’t like them,' he added.
Fuel Your Workouts Like Zharnel
Hughes knows high performance training has to be backed up with high performance nutrition – he's no slouch in the kitchen. 'I've developed my own smoothie with the help of nutritionist Rob Hobson ahead of the Olympics. Containing Vita Coco coconut water, I've named it the "Swift Smoothie", after my nickname Swift.
'This is the perfect recovery drink for anyone training hard. It's made with Vita Coco and my favourite fruits: mango, pineapple and passion fruit.'
Wanna try it? Here's how:
Ingredients
100ml Vita Coco coconut water
1 passion fruit
80g frozen pineapple
80g frozen mango
1 cm piece ginger (peeled)
25g scoop unflavoured protein powder
1 tbsp chia seeds
1-2 tsp honey
Zharnel Hughes is an ambassador for Vita Coco. Don't miss their big summer giveaway, now live at http://www.vitacoco.co.uk for your chance to win Thirst Place.
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