Olympic dream over for British sprinter Zharnel Hughes

By Patrick Hildred

Image: Hughes recorded a 200m personal best of 20.02secs last year

British sprinter Zharnel Hughes will miss out on this summer's Olympics after finishing seventh in his European Championships heat in Amsterdam.

The 20-year-old has struggled to recover from a knee injury after falling in a race earlier in the season.

His time of 21.21 seconds was more than a second off his personal best recorded at last year's World Championships in Beijing.

His absence means Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who competes in the semi-finals in Amsterdam on Friday, is likely to take the third 200m spot on Team GB for Rio, alongside Adam Gemili and Danny Talbot.

"I'm not happy at all," said Hughes. "There is some frustration because I know how well I can perform and I'm being inhibited.

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"If I was 100 per cent fit, trust me, this European Championships wouldn't have been normal.

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"It's devastating (that injury has struck in Olympic year), I have to wait four years again. It happens to the greats, though it just happened to me this time."

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