Newly-crowned European 400-metre champion Matthew Hudson-Smith joked he might run for “Mayor of Birmingham and Wolverhampton” after winning gold in his own backyard.
The Wolverhampton athlete, who grew up running on the same track at the Alexander Stadium, made it a hat-trick of career individual European titles, flying past a temporary stand named in his honour for the duration of the championships.
Hudson-Smith – the 2024 Olympic silver medallist over the same distance – was assigned lane nine, and got out to an early lead he never relinquished despite efforts to reel him in, holding off his challengers to cross the line in 44.17 seconds.
“Honestly, no, words (can’t) describe how much that meant to me,” Hudson-Smith told the BBC.
“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. 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.
“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.
“I have got my stand. Now I will go for Mayor of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. I’m going to keep asking, so all my boys are going to have a job at the end when I’m done, so let’s go. Vote for me, innit!”
The only dampener to the home favourite’s achievement was a third straight night where plenty of seats remained empty, even for the local’s final.
Muhammad Abdallah Kounta of France took silver in 44.40s and Jonas Phijffers of the Netherlands rounded out the podium in a national record 44.41s.
