OH BABY! Matt's new reason to claim first global gold

MATT Hudson-Smith has a new and more powerful motivator for winning the World Championship title next week - his newborn daughter waiting for him at home.

- By CHARLIE BENNETT

Ther 400m sprinter begins his latest bid for an elusive global gold in Tokyo on Sunday, with the final to follow next Thursday.

Gold would cap off an incredible rise for a Birchfield Harriers athlete who just over a decade ago was stacking shelves in Asda, and four years ago was so beset by mental health issues that he considered taking his own life.

Now 30, Wolverhampton-born Hudson-Smith has never been happier, especially in the middle of a year that - even by his standards - has been a rollercoaster.

Hamstring injuries and illness have restricted him, and he has been unable to produce the headline-making times of a year ago that saw him win Olympic silver last summer in the fifth-fastest time in history.

However, his main race has been off the track - and one he was unable to influence. As soon as he and wife Antonia Tyson discovered they were expecting their first child, Hudson-Smith knew it would be close to the World Championship and even feared his daughter would be born on the day of the 400m final.