World No.1 Matthew Hudson-Smith suggests 'time out to re-evaluate' after semi-final exit
Olympic silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith made no excuses as his bid for a first global gold medal ended in disappointment.
The 30-year-old European record holder arrived in Tokyo ranked number one in the world but crashed out at the semi-final stage of the men’s 400m.
The signs had already been there in the heats, where he struggled through as one of the fastest losers before admitting that a hip was troubling him.
And despite battling valiantly from lane two in his semi-final, 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.
He said: “It was one of those days, it happens. That's it really. No excuses.
“I'm out here to run. There are no excuses. You’ve just got to do what you've got to do.
“It's a race, I executed to the best of my ability and that's all that matters. I am going to take some time out and re-evaluate a lot of things and go from there.”
Hudson-Smith was one of three Brits going in the semi-finals of the men’s 400m, with Charlie Dobson – a Diamond League winner earlier this year – and Sam Reardon also failing to make it through.
Instead, fans from Botswana will prepare for Thursday’s final with anticipation after three of their number qualified including Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, who ran a world-leading 43.61 to qualify fastest.
Hudson-Smith’s season is not necessarily done yet, with the men’s 4x400m relay still to follow this weekend.
Great Britain had been talked up as a real gold medal chance, but Reardon admitted they may need to re-assess their targets now he and potentially Hudson-Smith are hurt.
“We've got a good relay team if we're all fit, but we don't know about Matt,” he said after complaining of a hamstring issue.
“Looking at our performances this year, I think we could definitely challenge the gold if we're all fit.
“Today hasn't shown that we're at our best. So, back to the drawboard now, and obviously the final, but we'll go again.”
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