Matthew Hudson-Smith wins 400m title on home track at European championships

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Matthew Hudson-Smith willed himself down the final straightaway on his home track to win his third European championships 400-meters gold medal on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old British star went out fast, held a big lead around the final bend and crossed the line in 44.17 seconds as France’s Muhammad Abdallah Kounta (silver) and Jonas Phijffers (bronze) of the Netherlands closed in.

Hudson-Smith, who also won the 400 at the 2018 and 2022 editions, has trained at Alexander Stadium since his youth and has a section of the stands named after him.

“I’ve been here since I was 9 years old so to do it here in front of my friends and family is extra special,” Hudson-Smith said. “It’s most likely my last European champs so there’s no better place and way to go out.”

The 400-meter silver medalist at the Paris Olympics is already eyeing the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“The Europeans is always something I target. I know there’s always a gold there for me and it’s a good stepping stone to LA,” he said. “Every race and every win is another step towards that ultimate goal of winning the Olympics.”

Historic gold for Slovakia

Emma Zapletalova became the first Slovakian woman to win a gold medal at the European championships. She won the 400-meter hurdles final in a time of 52.91 seconds.

The 26-year-old Zapletalova was considered the favorite after Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol switched to the 800.

“I am endlessly happy that I managed it and was not affected by the pressure,” she said.

The only other Slovakian athlete to win a medal at the European championships was Libor Charfreitag, who took the men’s hammer title in 2010.

“This is a precious medal for Slovakia — gold after a long 16 years,” Zapletalova said. “I still have to digest it.”

Britain’s Emily Newnham took silver, and Portugal’s Fatoumata Binta Diallo was third.

Irish runner breaks record in 800

Irish middle-distance runner Mark English broke a longstanding European championships record in the 800 meters when he won his semifinal heat.

English finished in 1 minute, 43.49 seconds to eclipse Olaf Beyer’s championship record of 1:43.84 set in 1978 in Prague.

“It is nice to have the record, for sure, and I felt really good doing it. But there will be a lot of really good guys in the final tomorrow, a lot of really talented runners, so I’ll need to discuss tactics now after this,” the 33-year-old English said as he looked ahead to Thursday’s final.

Beyer, who represented East Germany, had upset British stars Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe for the title 48 years ago.

“I saw the record before the race and I thought it would probably be broken by someone at these championships,” said English, a two-time bronze medalist at the European championships.

English gave a shoutout to the Irish fans at Alexander Stadium: “I heard them before the race, I heard them during the race, I heard them after it. I think close to 15 percent of tickets sold went to Irish fans so it’s amazing to (be) running in front of such a crowd.”

Britain’s Ben Pattison finished second in English’s heat, crossing in 1:43.72.

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