RAYMOND GRAHAM, STAR Writer

Former Kingston College athlete Anguillan Zharnel Hughes was over the moon after receiving the go-ahead to compete for Great Britain.

"I am excited and really happy to know that now I have a chance to compete at the Olympics,"Hughes told STAR Sports a few hours after he got the news.

The Anguilla-born athlete is the holder of a British passport, as Anguilla is still governed by Great Britain.

He got the all-clear to compete on Tuesday.

"I see the Olympics as a big picture and, since starting to compete in the sport, my dream was always to be an Olympian, but because my native country Anguilla was not a part of the Olympic movement, my dream was not going to be realised, but now the feeling is much different and I am looking forward to compete at the Great Britain Trials next weekend, as I am hoping to make their team in the 200m," he said.

Hughes, who got a scholarship to come to Jamaica to train at the High Performance Centre, attended Kingston College where he broke Yohan Blake's Class one 100m record, winning at Boys' Championships in 10.12 seconds.

"Coming to Jamaica was a positive for me. Anguilla lacked the quality infrastructure, but I want to give credit to the coaches (there) Winston Duncan and Alexis Ryan who laid the good foundation," he said.

Hughes, who worked out at the Racers Track Club, was disappointed with his performance at last year's World Junior Championships where he finished down the track in the 200m.

"I was still recovering from the injury and this season I vowed to do well and I went to the gym to get much stronger, because I already have the speed inside me and improving my strength would have surely helped in my improvement."

Hughes started his season well and had a close second-place finish to Usain Bolt at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York earlier this month.

He stated that, despite his prowess in the 100m and 200m he will be concentrating on the half lap event for now.

"I think with my good top-end speed, it is more suitable for me in the 200m," he said.