Matt Hudson-Smith goes from wheelchair to podium to win World 400m silver medal
Matt Hudson-Smith ran through the pain barrier to go from wheelchair to world silver medal last night.
A heroic performance from Britain’s 400m star saw him lead until until the last few metres when Jamaican starlet Antonio Watson finally reeled him in to take the win in 44.22 seconds.
Only last month the battling Brummie was pushed off the London Stadium track in a wheelchair with severe Achilles tendonitis.
“I wasn’t supposed to be here,” he admitted afterwards. “Sometimes I can’t walk, sometimes I can. It was literally like do or die out there.”
Hudson-Smith paid the price for going out a bit too hard before fading and stopping the clock on 44.31. America’s Quincy Hall was third..
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He explained: “It started to cramp up a bit but you’ve got to push through, man. It was a mental battle because I was like ‘ah crap’.”
“Sometimes I can’t walk, sometimes I can. It was literally like do or die out there” (Getty Images)The competitor in him was disappointed as “I’d come here for gold” and he was slower than his 44.26 European record time in the semi-final.
His revelation about the severity of the injury only made that the more mind-blowing. As did his insistence that he still wants to go in the relay.
“My Achilles has been mashed-up bad,” he added, saying it started playing up in April and “went” at a meet in Rabat on May 28.
Hudson-Smith is caught on the run-in (above) after his courageous tilt at gold comes up just short and (below) with his silver medal (AFP via Getty Images)“Everyone thought I’d torn my Achilles so I went to Germany where even Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt [renowned doctor to the stars] swore [when he saw the state of it].
“It was stiff this morning. Even on the line, there was a mental battle. It wasn't the best. But you just have to push through.”
Ben Pattison will represent Britain in tomorrow’s men’s 800m final after qualifying seventh in 1:44.23. Daniel Rowden and Max Burgin missed out.
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