Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith took a significant step towards achieving his dream of becoming the first Briton in a century to win Olympic gold in the 400 meters. He secured his place in the final on Sunday, alongside the United States’ Quincy Hall. The race for the gold medal became even more unpredictable when defending champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas withdrew from the qualifiers due to injury.
Hudson-Smith and Hall are now considered the top contenders to claim Gardiner’s crown. They are the only athletes in the world to have broken the 44-second mark this year. Hudson-Smith displayed a confident performance, taking the lead midway through his heat and crossing the finish line ahead of American Christopher Bailey with a time of 44.78 seconds.
“I just want to execute and go for the win really,” Hudson-Smith stated. The 29-year-old has openly declared his ambition to become the second British man to win gold in the 400m, after Eric Liddell’s historic victory at the 1924 Paris Olympics – a triumph immortalised in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire”.
Meanwhile, Hall will be striving to continue the remarkable dominance of U.S. athletes in this event. American athletes have secured a staggering total of 38 medals in the 400m, with 19 gold, 13 silver, and 11 bronze. The next closest nation in terms of total medals is Britain, with a mere seven.
After winning his heat in a time of 44.28 seconds – the second-fastest time of the night behind teammate Michael Norman (44.10) – Hall proudly flexed his muscles for the cameras. Hall had previously clocked an impressive 43.80 seconds in Monaco on July 12, while Hudson-Smith surpassed that mark with a time of 43.74 seconds a week later at the Diamond League meet in London.
Other contenders who qualified for the final on Sunday include Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards with a time of 44.31 seconds and 19-year-old Canadian Christopher Morales-Williams, who crossed the finish line in 44.96 seconds.
South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, the current world record holder with a time of 43.03 seconds, is not competing in the 400m in Paris. He has chosen to focus on the 200m instead, which begins on Monday.
The top three finishers in each heat advanced directly to the semi-finals, scheduled for Tuesday at 7:35 p.m. local time (1735 GMT). The remaining athletes will have another opportunity to qualify in a repechage round on Monday.
