Matt insists: No HUD-luck story

Matt Hudson-Smith

- CHARLIE BENNETT

OLYMPIC silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith made no excuses as his bid for a first global gold ended in disappointment.

The 30-year-old European record holder arrived in Tokyo ranked number one in the world but crashed out at the semifinal stage of the men’s 400 metres.

The signs had already been there in the heats, where he struggled through as one of the fastest losers before admitting a hip was troubling him.

Despite battling valiantly from lane two in his semifinal, he could only finish sixth in a time of 44.95 seconds, more than a second-and-a-half off the European record he ran on his way to silver in Paris last summer.

But Hudson-Smith, from Wolverhampton, refused to blame injury for his exit from the competition, while vowing to rethink his entire approach.