Matthew Hudson-Smith smashes European record to reach 400m final at the World

After Matthew Hudson-Smith left last month’s Diamond League meeting in London in a wheelchair many wondered whether the Brit would compete in Budapest.

The 28-year-old was unwilling to disclose the exact nature of his leg injury but revealed it was causing him significant pain on a daily basis.

Despite his obvious discomfort he insisted there was no way he would be absent from these World Championships, which would have meant surrendering the 400m bronze he won last summer in Oregon.

Hudson-Smith has shown he is a fighter before. And he came out swinging on Tuesday night, winning his semi-final to advance to Thursday’s men’s 400m final.

The one-lap specialist obliterated the field and set not just a British record but a new European record, with a time of 44.26sec.

Matthew Hudson-Smith smashed the European record to reach 400m final in Budapest

‘I will be happy when I get that medal, as for today (the record) that is just job done,’ said Hudson-Smith. ‘Coach told me to execute over the first 300m and make sure the job was done and then, when I knew I was clear, I was saving something for the final.’

His game plan for this race was clear. To come out hard and see if the rest of the field dared to go with him. Perhaps they were taken by surprise at Hudson-Smith’s bold approach.

We should know by now never to write him off. It was after his incredible triumph in Oregon that Hudson-Smith revealed the true extent of the struggles he had faced just a year earlier.

He admitted his mental health struggles — brought about by the loss of his sponsors and injury struggles — led him to attempt to take his own life.

But on Tuesday night he showed he is not just here to defend his bronze. He is here to go a step, or even two, higher on the podium.