Fingers were starting to touch the keyboard. Intros being formulated, allusions to history made. “Matt Hudson‑Smith last night became the first Briton since Eric Liddell in 1924 to wi …” And then Quincy Hall came from the gods to have everyone pressing the delete key.
The 26-year-old American is known as an epic closer. But with 50 metres left of this Olympic men’s 400m final, we all thought he was too far back. Hudson-Smith was five or six metres ahead of him, the gold medal strides away. But then came the gut punch.
Suddenly the Briton’s legs started to tie up. Simultaneously Hall’s long, galloping strides increased in urgency and power. As they did he went from fourth, to third, to second. And, two metres from the line, to gold in 43.40sec – making him the fourth quickest 400m runner in history.
Hudson-Smith’s compensation came in the form of a silver medal and a European best of 43.44. Not that he could see things sunny side up, at least not initially. As he looked up at the screen he uttered one word repeatedly: “Fuck.”
The worst thing about it? Hudson-Smith had no idea it was coming. “I thought I had cleared the field,” he said. “But I kept trying to quicken as I knew someone was going to come. I was trying to run through the line. But he got me.
“I am not angry, I am not upset. I was like: ‘Oh, fuck it, it’s life at the end of the day.’ There is only going to be one winner. He’s the better man, he came on strong, I cannot complain. I ran the fifth-fastest time overall. I have said that if you are going to win, you are going to have to take it from me, and he did.”
By the time Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga had come to a stop after taking bronze in 43.74, Hall was already doing snow angels on the track. “I was just thinking: ‘Keep on driving. Get home, sir,’” he said. “Two of my brothers have passed, and I have two daughters, seven and two. So when I go out on the track I have a lot of reasons to run hard.”