Paris 2024 silver medals for Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson Smith, who also clocked a European record, and Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna in the 400m and discus were added to Europe’s Olympic account on Wednesday night (7).
Hudson-Smith ran a superb first three-quarters of his race and led for 390 metres in the 400m final but, with the line approaching, was caught by the USA’s fast-finishing Quincy Hall.
Hall took the gold in a personal best of 43.40 but Hudson-Smith, who also won silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, was rewarded with his second European record in less than three weeks with a time of 43.44, a 0.3 improvement on his previous mark of 43.74 set at the London Diamond League meeting last month.
The pair also moved up to fourth and fifth on the world all-time 400m list.
This time last year, the European 400m record was still held by Thomas Schonlebe since 1987 with 44.33.
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 7, 2024
Matthew Hudson-Smith has now run faster than the old European record SIX times since then!
43.44
43.74
44.07
44.07
44.26
44.31#OlympicGames #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/jfNONpsoyK
"I set up exactly the way my coach told me to. We knew it was going to come down to the last 50 metres," said Hudson-Smith. "I genuinely thought I had it. He had another gear. I hit the gear a little bit too late and as it came up he had one step on me and that's it."
It has been a long road to the Olympic podium for Hudson-Smith despite many medals at the European Athletics Championships and World Athletics Championships, both in the individual 400m and also the 4x400m.
The Briton was eighth in the 2016 400m final at the age of 21 but who unfortunately missed out on going to Tokyo three years ago after an injury-marred 2021 season.
Alekna surprised and has to settle for silver
World record-holder Alekna was looking to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father Virgilius, who took gold at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and for the first three rounds of the discus it looked very much like he might achieve that feat.
The Lithuanian took the lead with his opening effort of 68.55m and then threw 69.97m in the next round to improve his father’s Olympic record of 69.89m which had stood for 20 years since Athens 2004.
However, in the fourth round the unheralded Jamaican Roje Stona – who had set his previous personal best of 69.05m in the US meeting in Oklahoma back in April for second place behind Alekna when the latter set his world record of 74.35m –unleashed a massive effort which landed at 70.00m exactly.
Now back into second place, Alekna valiantly tried to regain the lead and sent his 2kg implement flying out beyond 68 metres with his fourth and fifth efforts before a foul with his last attempts but had to finally settle for the silver medal.
Silver in the greatest Olympic discus final in history! 🥈
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 7, 2024
World record-holder Mykolas Alekna 🇱🇹 breaks his father’s Olympic record with 69.97 in the second round.
But Roje Stona 🇯🇲 breaks it again with 70.00m to win Olympic gold! #OlympicGames #Paris2024 #athletics pic.twitter.com/VosLFBnw6g
In undoubtably the best Olympic discus final ever, Slovenia’s 2022 world champion and 2024 European champion Kristjan Ceh finished out of the medals in fourth place despite a best mark of 68.41m, which came in the second round.
Austria’s Lucas Weisshaidinger and Germany’s Clemens Prufer were fifth and sixth with 67.54m and 67.51m.
Sweden’s Tokyo Olympic champion and reigning world champion Daniel Stahl was seventh with 66.95m and Lithuania’s former world and European champion Andrius Gudzius finished eighth with 66.55m.
Moser just misses out on a medal
Switzerland’s Roma 2024 European pole vault champion Angelica Moser, who cleared a national record of 4.88m at the Monaco Diamond League last month, was flawless up to and including 4.80m but could go no higher and had to settle for fourth place in a competition won by Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who was the only woman over 4.90m.
One place behind Moser, Czechia’s Amalie Svabikova excelled with a national record of 4.80m on her third attempt at that height to add seven centimetres to her personal best and four centimetres to Jiřina Ptáčníková 11-year-old national record.
Norway’s defending Olympic 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm – who famously won three years ago in Tokyo in a world record 45.94, which was widely described as one of the greatest Olympic feats in any sport – was the fastest semi-final winner over the barriers in 47.67, although it was actually 0.1 slower than his heat win.
As with his heat on Monday, the Roma 2024 champion was chased home by France’s Clement Ducos, who clocked 47.85 behind Warholm to secure his place in Friday’s final.
The pair will be joined by Estonia’s Rasmus Magi, who made his third consecutive Olympic final when finishing second in his semi in 48.16.
Kaczmarek impresses with semi win
In the 400m semi-finals, Roma 2024 gold medallist Natalia Kaczmarek won her semi in 49.45 to firmly present her Olympic medal credentials but she was pressed all the way by Great Britain’s Amber Anning who clocked a personal best 49.47.
Those 400m semifinals. 🥵
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 7, 2024
And there will be 4️⃣ European finalists in tomorrow’s final! ✨
🇵🇱 49.45 Natalia Kaczmarek
🇬🇧 49.47 Amber Anning
🇮🇪 49.95 Rhasidat Adeleke
🇳🇴 50.17 Henriette Jaeger#OlympicGames #Paris2024 #athletics pic.twitter.com/m41xbCMZts
Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke and Norway’s Henriette Jaeger also made Friday’s 400m final when finishing second and third in their semi, clocking 49.95 and 50.17 respectively.
Spain’s Roma 2024 silver medallist Enrique Llopis will be the sole European representative in Thursday’s 110m hurdles final after he finished second in his semi-final in 13.17, the third fastest time of his life.
Italy’s Lorenzo Simonelli, the European champion on home soil in June, had a race to forget in his semi and could only clock 13.38 to finish fifth and was eliminated.
Portugal’s defending Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo and Spain’s Jordan Diaz Fortun – who fought a magnificent duel at the European Athletics Championships in June with the latter prevailing with 18.18m to Pichardo’s 18.04m – went out to 17.44m and 17.24m respectively on their first attempts to quickly progress to the final and lead the triple qualifiers.
Phil Minshull for European Athletics