PARIS -- Matthew Hudson-Smith claimed silver in the men's 400-metre final on Wednesday, falling agonisingly short of emulating Eric Liddell's victory in the race exactly 100 years ago.
Hudson-Smith got off to a fantastic start and was leading until the final few steps of the race. His finishing time -- 43.44 seconds -- was enough to set a new European record and become the fifth-fastest man in history.
The 29-year-old finished just 0.04 seconds behind Team USA's Quincy Hall who produced an extraordinary sprint finish to overhaul Hudson-Smith and win gold.
"It was crazy. Sometimes the journey is better than the result, and it's been a hell of a journey," Hudson-Smith said. "I'm just grateful. I've got an Olympic silver medal, and how many people can say that? I've been the bridesmaid a couple of times now, but my time is coming. I'm just happy and grateful.
"My family are here. I didn't know they were here, so that was a bit of a shock. I hate them watching me, and my parents don't really watch me because they hate watching me as much as I hate them watching, so it's crazy that they came. It's been a hell of a journey.
"I ran it exactly the way my coach told me to. We knew it was going to come down to the last 50, and I thought I had it, but he had an extra gear. I hit the gear a little bit too late, as we came up, he had one step on me and that was it. But I'm healthy, this is just the start and time to build. My time is going to come.
"I thought I'd cleared the field. I knew someone was going to come, I wasn't trying to ease up, I was running to the line. He got me on the line; it happens."
A gold medal for Hudson-Smith would have repeated an iconic piece of British sporting history, with Liddell having won the 400-metre title at the Paris Olympics in 1924. That achievement inspired the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire."
Hudson-Smith has been on his own journey to this point, though. He attempted suicide in 2021 amid struggles with his mental health that were made worse by persistent injury problems. He had missed the Olympics that year, citing medical grounds.
He returned to the track in 2022, going on to win the men's 400 metres at both the European Championships and at last year's world championships in Budapest.