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Born in Wolverhampton, Hudson-Smith said before the championships that it would “mean the world” to land gold not only home soil, but where he first began working towards his dreams.<\/p>\n
With his achievements since those early training sessions recognised in writing on the north stand, to Hudson-Smith’s mind there could be only one possible outcome.<\/p>\n
He did not make it easy for himself, however.<\/p>\n
Entering the championships as the fastest European this year, the Briton admitted he “misjudged” his semi-final after fading to second place in his heat – an error which meant he had to pursue gold from the outside lane.<\/p>\n
Unable to monitor the early progress of his rivals, Hudson-Smith went out hard and had established enough of a gap entering the home straight to reassure the home fans that all was under control.<\/p>\n
The European record holder over 400m, and the sixth-fastest man of all time in the one-lap event, missed out on successive global titles by mere fractions of a second at both the World Championships in 2023 and Paris 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n
Those stunning silvers followed the toughest period of his life, but he put three years of “absolute hell” behind him to win world bronze in 2022 as he re-established himself among the world’s best.<\/p>\n
On the European stage, there has been no shortage of golden moments – but none will come close to this emotional full-circle moment.<\/p>\n
Gold was secured in 44.17 seconds, with Frenchman Muhammad Abdallah Kounta next to cross the line in 44.40.<\/p>\n
Speaking on BBC TV, three-time world heptathlon champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said: “What a moment. This will stay with Matthew Hudson-Smith forever.<\/p>\n
“It means so much and the pressure was piled on him. Anything but a gold medal here for him would have been a disappointment.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n