First-time father Matthew Hudson-Smith is willing to take more risks after welcoming his baby daughter into the world just three weeks ago.
The 30-year-old had to settle for 400m silver at last summer’s Paris Olympics, where American Quincy Hall pipped him to gold by four one hundredths of a second.
These days, Hudson-Smith’s Instagram is as likely to show the Wolverhampton athlete putting together a crib as it is to feature him training for this week’s World Championships in Tokyo, but parenthood has not softened the sprinter – if anything, it has hardened his resolve.
“I still feel like I’ve always got something to prove,” said Hudson-Smith, speaking before his bid for a first global title.
“I think for me, this year, rather than fulfilling the promise, it’s this added depth that this is for your family. It’s a little more impactful. Whereas beforehand, you’re a little more selfish.
“There’s been times in the past I wouldn’t race through injury or run through illness and take the risk of taking the loss. London I was ill in the Diamond League, but I was like, ‘You know what, I’ve got a family to feed.’ So I ran through it, whereas beforehand we didn’t really take those risks.
“(Now) I push through it a little bit more, just because you have to, rather than you want to.”
Hudson-Smith still made it through to Tuesday’s 400m semi-finals as one of the non-automatic qualifiers in 44.68 seconds, despite losing steam in the final stretch of his heat and later revealing he felt something in his hip he will hope to resolve quickly.
Perhaps more than many, Hudson-Smith is aware the period in which a professional athlete can bank on their talent is fleeting.
The former Wolves academy product, who had a stint stacking shelves at Asda, was hailed as a prodigy after switching to athletics and made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, before a set of injuries eventually forced him to miss the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Hudson-Smith was then dropped by his sponsors, under mounting medical debt, and found himself stranded in America, away from family and friends during the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was even a point, he revealed after collecting his first individual global medal – a bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene – that he had tried to take his own life.
Hudson-Smith retained his European 400m title in Munich one month after that candid admission and upgraded to world silver the following year before claiming his maiden Olympic medal last summer.
He enters these worlds with the fourth-fastest time of the season, 44.10, and twice won events in the curtailed inaugural season of Grand Slam Track, which founder Michael Johnson confirmed last month was “struggling with our ability to compensate” athletes due to to not receiving promised funding.
World champions in Tokyo will receive £51,426 in prize money, while runners-up earn half that amount.
“(My journey) has been quite a movie,” added Hudson-Smith.
“At this stage, honestly, it’s definitely rather peaceful. This year is definitely a new chapter. Before I had points to prove to myself in terms of filling potential that had been placed on me.
“I haven’t reached everything I’ve felt like I can. It’s just scratching the surface.”
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