Matthew Hudson-Smith proud to be up there with ‘Goats’ of British 400m running

The 29-year-old claimed his first Olympic medal in Wednesday evening’s race in Paris.

Matthew Hudson-Smith said he is proud to be up there with the Goats of British 400m running (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Matthew Hudson-Smith has said he is proud to be up there with the “Goats” of British 400m running after securing a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, as he vowed his “time is going to come”.

The 29-year-old claimed his first Olympic medal in Wednesday evening’s race, having led into its closing stages before the USA’s Quincy Hall found another gear to clinch gold.

Hudson-Smith broke his own European record with his time of 43.44 seconds in an event hailed as a history-making race with five athletes running sub-44 seconds.

The Wolverhampton athlete said he was “agonisingly close” to the gold, which would have emulated Eric Liddell’s Olympic title at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

“But honestly, at the end of the day, I just can’t complain that I’m up there with the greats like Eric Liddell and Roger Black,” he told the PA news agency.

“These are the Goats (greatest of all time) of British 400m running and I’m just proud to have my name alongside them.”

In events memorably depicted in the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, Liddell, a devout Christian, famously withdrew from the 100m heats at the 1924 games because they were held on a Sunday.

Nicknamed the Flying Scotsman for his speed around the running track, the Scot instead went on to win the 400m event, securing his place in history as the last British athlete to win gold in this distance.

Hudson-Smith said he has changed his “whole life” in recent years to get “healthy” and elevate his performance, and surrounded himself with a “great team”.

His success at Paris follows a comeback from a series of setbacks, injuries and personal challenges over a three-year period he once referred to as “absolute hell”.

The Olympian vowed his “time is going to come”.

“(Hall) took that one step and that was the difference between 43.40 and 43.44,” Hudson-Smith told PA.

“But it’s sport man, there’s heartache, there’s agony, but at the end of the day there’s always going to be one winner and he’s a great competitor.

“On that day, he was a better man, but like I’ve been saying my time is going to come and I’m going to get my get back and there’s going to be many, many races and many battles between me and Quincy.”

In Paris on Thursday, Welsh taekwondo athlete Jade Jones begins her campaign for a third Olympic gold medal while Bradly Sinden, who became Britain’s first ever male taekwondo world champion in 2019, competes in the men’s category.

The women’s heptathlon kicked off in the morning with Katarina Johnson-Thompson, a two-time world champion, seeking her first Olympic medal at her fourth Games.

Track cycling also continues on Thursday with the men’s omnium, featuring two-time world champion Ethan Hayter who formed part of the men’s team pursuit quartet which claimed Team GB’s 1,000th Olympic medal on Wednesday with silver.

Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant, who have already won gold in Paris in the women’s team sprint, will compete in the women’s keirin quarter finals in the afternoon with hopes of getting through to the gold medal race.