The 2024 European Athletics Championships delivered a magical night of competition in Birmingham on Wednesday, headlined by a fairytale victory for local favorite Matthew Hudson-Smith, who reclaimed the men’s 400m title on the same track where he first began training at age nine.
Now 31 years old and born just a short distance away in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, Hudson-Smith added another chapter to his legendary European Championship career. Having already won 400m gold in 2018 Berlin and 2022 Munich, this victory marked his fifth European title overall. The result ties him with British athletics icons Roger Black, another 400m specialist, and long-distance legend Mo Farah for the most European gold medals won by a British male athlete, leaving him just one title behind compatriot Dina Asher-Smith.
In a fitting tribute to his connection to the venue, a temporary spectator stand at Alexander Stadium was named in his honor for these championships. From the opening gun, Hudson-Smith controlled the race, surging to the front early and holding off all challengers to cross the line in 44.17 seconds. The sellout crowd of 14,000 rose to their feet as he crossed the finish line, 0.23 seconds ahead of silver medalist Muhammad Abdallah Kounta of France, who is trained by British sprint legend Linford Christie. Dutch runner Jonas Phijffers rounded out the podium, taking bronze in a new national record of 44.41 seconds.
Reflecting on his emotional win, Hudson-Smith said: “My coach told me ‘This is your home — defend it’. I knew that for them to beat me they would have to pull off a super special moment. Nobody was going to beat me on this track. This is my home. I have been here since nine.”
The evening session featured three additional dramatic medal events across different disciplines. In the closing men’s 110m hurdles, Switzerland’s Jason Joseph claimed gold with a time of 13.12 seconds, prompting a joyful, sustained ringing of cowbells from the large group of Swiss supporters in the stands. France’s Just Kwaou-Mathey took silver in 13.16 seconds, while Poland’s Jakub Szymanski secured bronze with 13.26 seconds.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Slovakian athlete Emma Zapletalova stepped into the spotlight left vacant by two-time defending champion Femke Bol, who switched focus to the 800m ahead of these championships. The in-form Zapletalova, who won bronze behind Bol at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, delivered a dominant performance to win gold in 52.91 seconds. Britain’s Emily Newnham took silver with a new personal best of 53.33 seconds, while Fatoumata Binta Diallo of Portugal claimed bronze in a national record of 53.55 seconds.
Finland made history in the women’s hammer throw, as Silja Kosonen secured the Nordic nation’s first ever European gold in the event. The former world under-20 champion, who finished fifth and fourth at the previous two senior European Championships, launched a personal best throw of 76.28 meters on her third attempt. From that point onward, no challenger was able to match her distance, leaving defending champion Sara Fantini of Italy to take silver with 74.35 meters, and Beatrice Nedberge Llano of Norway to claim bronze with 72.88 meters.
Beyond the medal rounds, Wednesday’s action also set the stage for a potential British podium sweep in the women’s 200m final on Thursday. Newly crowned 100m champion Amy Hunt, 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith, and Success Eduan all advanced from their semi-finals. Hunt, who is targeting four championship gold medals and will also compete in the women’s and mixed 4x100m relays, clocked a comfortable 22.37 seconds to win her semi. Asher-Smith, a two-time European 200m gold medalist who finished fifth in the 100m final, won her semi in 22.49 seconds. Defending champion Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland, who is returning to elite competition after giving birth, finished seventh in her semi and missed out on the final, boosting British hopes of a top-three sweep.
“It’s amazing to have three British girls in the final,” said Eduan. “Me, Amy and Dina haven’t actually spoken about the possible cleansweep. We all just want to focus on our own races, but it would be amazing if that did happen.” Hunt added of her semi-final strategy: “The plan today was to come out and put down a hard first 150m, in order to practice it for tomorrow. I felt so strong from the turn and was just trying to look at the screen seeing where I was, what the time was.”