British 400m record-holder earns bronze medal at World Champs in Eugene after a challenging period that saw him attempt suicide last year

As he stood on the podium at the World Championships on Friday night in Eugene, Matt Hudson-Smith had good reason to feel proud. Since winning the European 400m title four years ago he has battled multiple injuries, the temptation to quit the sport and mental demons which led him to try to take his own life in 2021. Yet here in Eugene he won a brilliant bronze medal for Britain in a 400m final won by American Michael Norman in 44.29.

“The last three years have been absolute hell,” he said. “In 2018 I won Europeans even though things didn’t go to plan. In 2019 I tore my Achilles and hamstring and messed up my hip. In 2020 there was Covid and huge mental health issues.”

With a shocking revelation, he added: “Not a lot of people know this but I literally attempted suicide.”

He continued: “I was racing knowing I was hurt all the time and knowing I wasn’t 100%. I couldn’t do the Olympics for several reasons. Everyone who has been around me – from my agent to my coach, family and girlfriend – honestly, they haven’t given up on me. A lot people would have cracked but I had good support.”

When asked to elaborate, Hudson-Smith was reluctant and simply said it was “in the past now”. He did however talk about the many problems and challenges he has faced in the run-up to the World Championships, such as huge medical bills in the United States that were linked to his treatment for injuries.

The 27-year-old also said that the deaths of coach Lloyd Cowan and physiotherapist-turned-performance director Neil Black hit him hard, not to mention the departure of Stephen Maguire from the UKA coaching team.

“Losing people like Lloyd, who was a huge influence in my life, and Mr Black, who drove me from Loughborough to London when I got my diagnosis (for an Achilles injury) and Mr Maguire, who was always on the phone to me. I had a lot of people who I lost and I was stuck in America by myself.

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. Imagine stepping on the line always being hurt and you have a lot of pressure because everyone always expects a lot from you.”

On moving to the United States, he says it was a gamble in order to get the most out of his talent but it initially left him feeling isolated. “I didn’t want to be one of those people who were saying ‘what if’. I wanted a medal. I could have stayed (at home) in Birmingham. I never thought I’d leave. I love Birmingham. But when I moved I thought it was ‘now or never’.”

During a rocky period Hudson-Smith says he talked to friends and family about quitting athletics and becoming an electrician. He says Christine Ohuruogu has been particularly supportive, whereas team-mates like Dina Asher-Smith and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake have been helpful and inspirational.

He tried to get a green card to the United States but said: “Things work in mysterious ways because my green card got denied. So I thought I’d just give it (athletics) a go and I’ve got a medal now.”

He added: “I lost my sponsorship but thankfully got picked up by Puma. My talent was there but I was always hurt and you can’t really represent the brand if you’re sitting on the sidelines.”

More recently he has been coached by Gary Evans and trains with, among others, the Olympic 400m champion Stephen Gardiner of the Bahamas. Healthier than ever this year, he broke Iwan Thomas’s long-standing UK record of 44.36 with 44.35 at the Pre Classic in Eugene earlier this summer and is now talking about taking down Thomas Schonlebe’s European mark of 44.33, which was set when the East German won the world title in 1987.

On Friday in Eugene he went through 200m in 21.14 with the eventual winner Norman and 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada breathing down his neck on the inside lanes.

James led marginally coming into the final straight from Norman and Hudson-Smith with the world record-holder and Rio Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk in fourth.

But Norman produced the strongest final 100m as James held on for silver in 44.48, Hudson-Smith bronze in 44.66 – becoming the first Briton to win a medal in this event since Roger Black in 1991 – and Van Niekerk fading to fifth in 44.97.

“At one point I was second and I saw Kirani and felt someone else beside me and I thought ‘please don’t come fourth’. For the whole year my coach has been saying ‘the race is lost in the last 20 metres’,” he said.

Resisting the temptation to glance from side to side in the final 20 metres, Hudson-Smith kept focused on the finish line and held his form to earn the first individual podium place of his life.

Next stop is the Commonwealth Games on home soil. Much will depend on the weather conditions and competition but he feels he can run 43-something in future. “I’ve only been with my coach for one year so anything is possible.”

He admits he was painfully inexperienced when he started in the sport. “When I jumped on the scene I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just running and having fun. As the years went on I lost that innocence. I was doing YDL (Youth Development League), joking around, partying with my mates and then I was in an Olympic final (2016). It was a lot of change.”

Given this he is well placed to offer advice to the current crop of talented young 400m runners. “Have patience with everyone. It takes a lot of time. It took me 10 years to get to the British record.”