Harry Hughes (javelin thrower)

Harry Hughes (born 26 September 1997) is a British javelin thrower. He was the 2019 British Athletics Championships winner with a throw of 75.11 metres.

Biography
Hughes is from Bury St Edmunds. He was a standout athlete from a young age, as he threw the senior weight javelin 62.30 metres at age 15 on his first recorded attempt. He was the 2013 English Schools and Schools International Athletic Board under-17 champion, and at the 2013 World School Athletics Championship he won the bronze medal in the 700-gram javelin with a distance of 64.54 m. By 2014, he had achieved the number 2 mark on the all-time national under-17 rankings, behind only David Parker.

At the 2016 World U20 Championships in Athletics, Hughes represented his country in the javelin. He threw 74.30 m in qualification, but he was not able to match that mark in the final, throwing 72.22 metres for 7th place behind Neeraj Chopra's world under-20 record winning mark.

After finishing 7th at the 2017 British Athletics Championships, Hughes missed the entire 2018 season due to injury.

Hughes made his second senior national finals in 2019. Coming off a left heel injury that saw him miss the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships, he threw 75.11 metres at the 2019 British Athletics Championships to win his first national title.

Before his injury, Hughes' 2019 season best of 80.32 metres was the farthest throw by a British athlete since 2012. In 2020, Hughes' injury that caused him to miss the 2018 season came back and required surgery to fix. To fund the surgery which placed two metal screws in his elbow, he successfully crowdfunded £5000 via GoFundMe.

Hughes competes for the West Suffolk Athletic Club and is coached by 1986 World U20 Championships silver medallist Mark Roberson.