I’VE WON MY Matt takes bronze but brave Brit
MATT HUDSONSMITH won Britain’s fourth medal of the World Championships – then revealed he attempted suicide a year ago. The softly-spoken man from Wolverhampton dropped the bombshell after taking bronze in the men’s 400 metres on the biggest day of his sporting life.
“It’s been tough, man. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” said the first British male quarter-miler since Roger Black 31 years ago to win a world medal.
“In 2019 I tore my Achilles, tore my hamstring, messed up my hip. 2020 was Covid. Huge mental health issues in 2021.Yeah, not a lot of people know this but I literally attempted suicide.”
The Florida-based star had kept his emotions in check before – now he wanted it all off his chest.
“I was racing knowing I was hurt all the time,” he continued. “Going to races knowing I wasn’t 100 per cent. I couldn’t do the Olympics for several reasons.
“I lost my sponsorship, didn’t have medical insurance in America and got a huge debt. I applied for and was denied my Green Card.”
Hudson-smith mentioned the part played by his coach Lloyd Cowan and former GB boss Neil Black, who both died in the last two years.
He added: “Losing people like Lloyd, who was a huge influence in my life and Mr
Black, they were always there for me. Imagine stepping on the line knowing you’re hurt. Everyone expects a lot from you.you expect a lot from yourself. I talked to people about about becoming an electrician… and now I’ve got this medal.”
He reached for the piece of metal hanging round his neck and it seemed to snap him out of the moment, taking him from a difficult past to a present he had put himself through so much to achieve.
Kirani James, London 2012 Olympic champion and silver medallist here (44.48secs) behind new champion Michael Norman (44.29secs), passed by and patted him on the back.
Still Hudson-smith, 27, didn’t seem able to believe what he had achieved, the one-time Asda shelfstacker who burst on to the scene in 2014 when Army life was his only option.
But the Brit, who has cleared his debts since getting picked up by Puma, will know it is true when he heads to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next week, where he is certain to receive rapturous acclaim.
If his was a remarkable day, then so was Sydney Mclaughlin’s as she obliterated her own 400m hurdles world record by 0.73secs.
It was the fourth time in 13 months she had lowered the mark, dropping it from 52.16 to 50.68 – to earn a $100,000 bonus.
To put that in context ,Victoria Ohuruogu, Britain’s fastest 400m FLAT female runner, has not run that quick this year.
Yet American Mclaughlin, 22, insisted: “There is always more time that can be shaven off. There’s no such thing as a perfect race.”