Matthew Hudson-Smith runs huge personal best to reach Olympic Games 400m final
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 14/08/16 5:25am
Matthew Hudson-Smith produced a massive personal best to claim a place in the final of the 400m at the Olympic Games in Rio.
The 21-year-old finished like a train in the third semi-final and dipped into second place, stopping the clock at 44.48s to slash four-tenths of a second off his previous fastest time.
Hudson-Smith was in seventh place, running from the outside lane, coming into the last 100m but he picked off all bar Grenadan winner Bralon Taplin to snatch an automatic qualifying place by one-hundredth.
The event's 'big three' all safely qualified for the final with Kirani James of Grenada winning the first semi-final in 44.02s ahead of American rival Lashawn Merritt (44.21s).
And South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk also had little trouble in progressing, easing down in his semi to finish second in 44.45s behind Machel Cedenio of Trinidad & Tobago.
"That was crazy," Hudson-Smith said. "I messed up on the transition at the top end but I have no idea what just happened, I'm not going to lie to you!
"It was improvisation. When I felt them all go past me, I was like 'okay, I have enough left, I have another gear', so I just started kicking.
"When I saw the time and that I'd made the finals, I was really happy because it wasn't the best of runs."
