HUGHES GOLD KO ON LAP OF HONOUR
ZHARNEL HUGHES dodged a bullet from a thief in January but he couldn’t dodge one from the officials in the men’s 200metres final at the Commonwealth Games yesterday. How dramatic it was, watching the 22-year-old storm to the result of the night — and his life in taking gold — only for the television replays to offer an inconvenient truth. What they showed was clear — he started drifting left as he tired in the final 20m and, after he stepped on the line between his lane and that of Trinidad and Tobago’s Jareem Richards, he swung out his left arm and caught Richards on the chest. From there, he crossed the line in 20.12sec, the same as Richards, and his fractional win was confirmed via photo, prompting Hughes to take off on a lap of honour, complete with flag and selfies and the whole arm-waving shebang. It was only when he got back to the home straight that he was told by a blue-blazered official of the actual outcome. There isn’t a clock at a track in the world that could measure how quickly his grin disappeared. He stood shaking his head just as Richards started to dance — and then the drama ratcheted up a notch when England lodged an appeal. It never felt likely to succeed, but it was a full 90 minutes before the result became formal. Agony for Hughes, therefore, and a vindication of sorts for Michael Johnson, the track legend, who a day earlier pointed out vulnerabilities in Hughes’ technique. Hughes’ thoughts on that and everything else will go unknown for now as he left the stadium without a word for the media. But regardless of how his night played out, it still only ranks as the second most dramatic occurrence his year, considering he was held up at gunpoint and shot at while training in Jamaica. He thankfully sprinted to safety on that occasion; on this lesser matter there was no escaping. The disqualification subsequently saw Leon Reid of Northern Ireland take bronze behind Canada’s Aaron Brown and Richards in gold.