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Stand … and deliver. On a balmy night in Birmingham, Matt Hudson-Smith powered past the stand bearing his name at the Alexander Stadium and into history by becoming the first man to win three European Championship 400m titles.
And afterwards, as the adrenaline flooded his body and he posed wearing a crown in front of his own stand, the 31-year-old made it clear just how much it meant. “Nobody is going to beat me on this track,” he said. “This is my home. I have been here since I was nine. I know this track like the back of my hand.
“This is something dreams are made of,” he added. “I’ve now got the crown in my home city, probably my last European Championships. I have got my stand. Now I will go for mayor of Birmingham and Wolverhampton.”
Born in Wolverhampton. Made in Birmingham. Forged in the fire of competition. But this wasn’t the easiest of wins given that Hudson-Smith started in lane nine, which meant he was blind to the challengers inside him.
No wonder that when the gun went off, he went off like a man sprinting for the last bus of the night. And while he began to tie up in the final 70 metres, he had enough to win in 44.17 sec.
Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, of France, took silver in 44.40, while Jonas Phijffers, of the Netherlands, claimed bronze, a hundredth of a second further back, in a new national record.
They were happy with their spoils. But no one was more ecstatic as Hudson-Smith, although there was a little sharpness to his celebrations, as he took a dig at the BBC afterwards for suggesting he might be carrying an injury.
“Honestly, I never dreamt of this,” he said. “I cannot describe what this means to me. I was watching a BBC Newcast. You guys need to come with the facts, man. Saying I was injured and everything. The whole point of rounds is to survive and advance. I tried to conserve rounds. Me and my coach were laughing all the way around. I knew I was the best in the world. I knew that. On paper, I was a second faster than these guys.”
“My coach said, once you seal the deal, make sure you do it,” he added. “This is your home. Defend it.
“I knew it would take one hell of an effort to get past me. Every time someone beats me, I kind of end their career. I knew that for them to beat me, they would have to have a supernatural moment.”
The only disappointment was that the Matthew Hudson-Smith stand was not packed to the rafters to celebrate his triumph. There has been a lot of talk about prices being too high. But it is not as simple as that, given that most of the £110 Category A seats in the main stand were sold out.
In fact, it has been the cheaper tickets, some of which have been priced as low as £40 and £20, that have struggled to sell out.
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There are many reasons for that. The stadium is out of town. It is not easy to park nearby. There is a cost of living crisis and, in fairness to the organisers, the last four days of competition are said to be sell-outs. Who can blame people for waiting for the end of the week when there are more finals?
European Athletics says that 80% of tickets – about 200,000 in total – have now been sold. But there is perhaps another factor for that figure not being higher.
The last four European championships have been staged in Rome, Munich, Berlin and Amsterdam. These are cities where it is easy to combine a city break with sport, art and culture. Birmingham just doesn’t pack that punch. As one press box wag put it, Rome has the Colosseum, Birmingham has the Bull Ring.
There was a second British success of the night as Emily Newnham came through with a late charge to take silver in the women’s 400m hurdles.
The favourite, Emma Zapletalova, of Slovakia, won comfortably in 52.91 sec, but Newnham went from fourth over the final hurdle to second by running a personal best of 53.33. Fatoumata Binta Diallo set a national record of 53.55 for bronze.
Afterwards, Newnham dedicated her win to her mother, who has been undergoing health issues. “Mum, I love you so much,” she added. “You’re my inspiration this year. Keep fighting – you’ve got this.”
“I never think I do well under pressure. Clearly I do,” said Newnham.
