Hudson-Smith completes 400m hat-trick on home track as Amy Hunt chases quadruple at European Athletics Championships

Hudson-Smith's hometown triumph

Matthew Hudson-Smith claimed his third consecutive European 400m title on Wednesday night at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, the track where he has trained since childhood. The 31-year-old from Wolverhampton, assigned lane nine, surged to an early lead and never relinquished it, crossing the line in 44.17 seconds. France's Muhammad Abdallah Kounta took silver in 44.40s, with Jonas Phijffers of the Netherlands setting a national record of 44.41s for bronze.

The victory made Hudson-Smith the first European sprinter with a hat-trick of 400m golds, following wins in 2018 and 2022, and the first man to win the event on home soil since Germany's Ingo Schulz at the 2002 edition in Munich. His fifth continental gold puts him level with Roger Black and Sir Mo Farah, while his eighth European medal equals French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre's men's record tally. Only Dina Asher-Smith has won more outdoor continental medals among British athletes.

"This is my home"

Hudson-Smith split 10.90s at 100m and 20.86s at 200m, building a half-second lead by halfway. The same aggressive tactics had backfired in the semi-final, when he "switched off" and was caught by Phijffers on the home straight. In the final, he held his form in the outside lane.

Nobody is going to beat me on this track. This is my home. I have been here since I was nine. I know this track like the back of my hand.

After crossing the line, Hudson-Smith walked into the north stand and placed a hand on the banner displaying his name. A temporary stand at the Alexander Stadium, which holds 23,000 for these championships, has been named in his honour for the duration of the event. He joked to the BBC that he might run for "Mayor of Birmingham and Wolverhampton."

Empty seats in Birmingham

Attendance across the first three nights has been a concern for organisers. Figures for Monday and Tuesday were around 59 and 70 per cent of capacity respectively, with Wednesday's 400m final appearing similarly attended. Plenty of seats remained empty even for the local favourite's golden moment.

Amy Hunt's quadruple bid

Amy Hunt, who won the 100m final on Monday night, is chasing four medals at the championships. The 24-year-old University of Cambridge alumna is also competing in the 200m, with the final scheduled for Thursday night, and is in contention for two relay teams. Hunt was the surprise silver medalist in the 200m at last September's world championships in Tokyo, where she ran 22.14 seconds.

That performance is one step closer to being like Sharpay Evans. I really want to win it all and I'm so happy now I've got one out of four done.

Other British medals

Great Britain lead the medal table after day two with two golds and two silvers. Romell Glave won gold in the men's 100m, with Jeremiah Azu taking silver in the same event. The mixed 4x400m relay team picked up the hosts' first medal with silver on the opening night. In the women's 400m hurdles, 22-year-old Emily Newnham clocked a lifetime best of 53.33s to take silver behind Slovakia's Emma Zapletalova, who won in 52.91s. Portugal's Fatoumata Diallo took bronze in a national record of 53.55s, securing Portugal's 42nd medal in outdoor European athletics championships.