GB’s Hudson-Smith takes silver in 400m thriller

Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith missed out on Olympic 400m gold by four-hundredths of a second in a dramatic finish at Paris 2024.

The 29-year-old improved his European record to 43.44 seconds but was pipped on the line by American Quincy Hall, who triumphed in a personal best 43.40 in a thrilling conclusion.

It was another agonising near-miss on a global stage for Hudson-Smith, who went within 0.09secs of the world title 12 months ago.

Hudson-Smith, who was favourite for gold as the fastest man in the world in 2024, becomes the first Briton to make the Olympic men’s 400m podium in 28 years.

This was another outstanding performance by Hudson-Smith, who was denied gold only by a sensational finish by Hall, who chased down his rivals in the closing stages.

The British athlete held the lead coming in to the home straight but was unable to hold out as Hall fought his way from third to first.

Hudson-Smith had to put three years of “absolute hell” behind him to win world bronze in 2022, before going so close to his first global triumph in Budapest last year.

Silver at the Stade de France brought a mixture of emotions for Hudson-Smith, determined to win gold but undoubtedly proud of his journey to this moment.

“It is just the start really. Time to build,” Hudson-Smith, who is now the fifth fastest 400m runner in history, told BBC Sport.

“I’m healthy. My time is going to come, it is only a matter of time.”

Zambian 21-year-old Muzala Samukonga took bronze in 43.74, as five athletes ran under 44 seconds in one race for the first time.

Only three years ago, Hudson-Smith was broken.

Physically, mentally, financially.

Injuries had led him to accrue substantial debt due to medical costs and a loss of sponsors, before ending his hopes of competing in Tokyo.

Those events coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and Hudson-Smith struggled with his mental health, enduring three years of “absolute hell” as he remained isolated from his family in the United States.

Having put his darkest days behind him, Hudson-Smith said world bronze in Eugene in 2022 was “just the beginning”.

He was not wrong.

Hudson-Smith struggled with Achilles tendonitis throughout the 2023 season, but still managed to upgrade to world silver with a stunning, gutsy run behind Jamaica’s Antonio Watson in Budapest.

Despite his disrupted preparations, Hudson-Smith was far from satisfied – and the signs had been extremely positive in 2024 as he built towards his target.

He set a new European record of 44.07 in Oslo in May and improved that to 43.74 at the London Diamond League, just six days before the Paris opening ceremony.

He ran faster still in pursuit of Olympic glory on Wednesday, but it was not enough to hold off the fast-finishing Hall, who had won bronze behind Hudson-Smith last year.

“I set up exactly the way my coach told me to. We knew it was going to come down to the last 50 metres,” said Hudson-Smith.

“I genuinely thought I had it. He had another gear. I hit the gear a little bit too late and as it came up he had one step on me and that’s it.”