Matthew Hudson-Smith wins second Paris 2024 medal and says: 'I need a beer.'
Matthew Hudson-Smith admitted he “needed a beer” after winning his second medal of Paris 2024 as GB’s men’s 4x400 metre relay team took bronze.
The Wolverhampton athlete ran the second leg as a quartet which also included Alex Haydock-Wilson, Lewis Davey and Charlie Dobson broke the European record in finishing behind the USA and Botswana at the Stade de France.
It completed a fantastic but taxing week for Hudson-Smith, who won silver in Wednesday’s individual 400m.
The 29-year-old, who also ran in Friday morning’s relay heats, was running his fifth 400m race of the Games in Saturday’s final.
He said: “I need a beer man. It was an amazing Olympic games. I wanted to come away with two medals and to do this one for the boys.
“I’ve got the best team in the world, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Hudson-Smith had been bullish about GB’s chances, claiming after Friday morning’s heat they were good enough to win gold.
But while never outside the top three, they could not quite match the pace of the US or Botswana, the former holding off the latter in the closing metres to win gold in a new Olympic record time.
"I was literally on the floor. I could not walk around the track," said Hudson-Smith.
"But we say we are going to fight for each other and that is exactly what we did. Just because we fought for each other we came away with a bronze and a national record. We could not have asked for anything more."
The time of two minutes, 55.83 seconds was still hugely impressive and the bronze medal the second of three claimed by GB on the final night of athletics.
Earlier in the evening, GB’s Georgia Bell claimed a fantastic third place in the women's 1,500 metres, in a new national record time of three minutes, 52.61 seconds.
Tokyo silver medallist Laura Muir also ran a personal best but it was only good enough for fifth.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon won gold for the third straight Games and set a new Olympic record of three minutes, 51.29 seconds, in the process.
And the action finished with GB’s women taking bronze behind the USA and the Netherlands in their 4x400m relay final.