Support truly
independent journalism
Matthew Hudson-Smith vowed to come back and “shock the world” after being pipped to gold in the men’s 400 metres final in Paris.
The Wolverhampton athlete was leading into the final 50 metres at the Stade de France but was beaten by the fast-finishing American Quincy Hall by four one hundredths of a second.
The 29-year-old, who has courageously come back from mental health struggles to claim his first Olympic medal, lowered his own European record to 43.44 – the fifth-fastest time in 400 metres history.
He said: “I saw everyone in the crowd, they were all proud. They know what I have been through. They know that it has been a rough journey. Incredible highs and so deep, deep lows.
“Man, it’s sport. It’s a crazy one. They know what is to come. The world does as well.
“I was a bit of an unknown quantity in the sense that nobody knew what I would do, whether I would finish or blow up in the final like in Budapest.
“I saw people say that I ran too fast in the semis. I knew I could drop the time. I also know as well, finishing this didn’t take as much out of me as I thought.
“I will keep building on this. I want to shock the world, I want to shock the world, it’s a matter of time.”
The 29-year-old was battling Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards in the closing stages but world bronze medallist Hall surged forward in the final 50 metres in a thrilling finish to seal his own maiden Olympic medal, Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga claiming bronze.
Hudson-Smith said: “I said that if you are going to take it from me, you are going to have to really take it from me. And that is exactly what he did.
“I cannot complain, my fastest time overall. It’s the healthiest I’ve ever been in a championship and I almost got it. Sometimes the journey is better than the outcome. It has been a hell of a journey and I cannot complain.
“This is just the start. I know there is a bigger time in there. The time will come. This is the healthiest I have been going into a championship and I almost got it.”
Hudson-Smith finished last in the final on Olympic debut at Rio 2016, a race won by South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk in what remains a world record time.
The former Wolves academy product’s parents first took him to a track to keep him out of trouble and he found himself enjoying the individual accountability of athletics.
For a while as a youngster and 200 metres runner he was known amongst the GB team, he told Justin Gatlin’s Ready, Set, Go podcast, as “the Great British secret”, but his talent at double the distance was evident and he eventually stepped up.
Results and distractions both came easily in Britain and after that Rio 2016 final, the first bottom finish of his career, Hudson-Smith moved to America to train with Lance Baumann, who had also signed up a young talent named Noah Lyles.
The two were even housemates for a year in 2019 when Hudson-Smith moved into the newly-crowned Olympic 100 metres champion’s spare room in Florida, but soon came the first of a set of injuries which eventually forced him to miss the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Hudson-Smith was dropped by his sponsors, had mounting medical debt, and in 2021 his mentor Lloyd Cowan died. He found himself stranded in America, away from family and friends during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The following year, after collecting bronze at the world championships for his first major medal, Hudson-Smith shared that the three years of “absolute hell” had led to a suicide attempt in 2021.
This is just the start. I know there is a bigger time in there. The time will come— Matthew Hudson-Smith
He has surged since hitting rock-bottom, following that bronze in Eugene by taking 400 metres silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, then gold in both the 400 metres relay and individual 400 metres at the European championships that year.
In 2023 in Budapest, he upgraded that world bronze to silver, setting what was then a new European record of 44.26 seconds in the process.
Lyles has claimed Hudson-Smith once told him he would retire after winning a first major medal, but the Briton now says he has one more Games in him.
He added: “When it clicks, it is going to be special. It didn’t come at the Olympics but another four years and that is the last you will ever see of me.”
