Golden Matt finish at last

MATT HUDSON-SMITH finally won a major title last night at the European Championships in Berlin.

Britain’s 400m star, for so long plagued by injuries and bad luck, led from start to finish to land his gamble of going out like a bat out of hell then hanging on.

Disqualified for running out of his lane at the Commonwealth Games in April, he had vowed to get it right this time.

And after blowing away his rivals in the semifinals he just hung on in the final to take the title in 44.81 seconds.

“I’m never doing that again,” said the 23-yearold.

“I got to 350m and I was like, ‘What is this!’ I was swimming – that’s why I was on the floor for so long. It’s a good feeling. The time doesn’t matter, that’s for the future. It was about winning.”

Katarina JohnsonThompson had to settle for silver despite posting her best-ever heptathlon score of 6,759 points.

She said: “I’m happy with the whole attitude, the whole heptathlon, my progression and the fact I feel I’m on to something. This shows I can perform against the world’s best.”

Nafi Thiam had just too much for JohnsonThompson as she added the European crown to her world and Olympic titles.

Unsung Meghan Beesley won a shock bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles and fast-finishing Jake Wightman followed suit in the men’s 1500m.