World Athletics Championships: Matt Hudson-Smith has hip problem in 400m heats

Olympic 400m silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith revealed he felt something in his hip after finishing fourth in his heat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Hudson-Smith still qualified for Tuesday’s semi-final, but faces questions over his fitness he could not immediately answer after crossing the finish in 44.68 seconds, still enough to go through as one of the six-fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

The Wolverhampton athlete sat second for the majority of the heat before losing steam on the final stretch.

“It felt flat, and my hips are a bit iffy,” said Hudson-Smith. “I was running, and I felt ‘Oh no my hips don’t feel good’. I got through it, but it hurt man. I don’t know – I really don’t know I literally had nothing. It’s weird.”

The 30-year-old’s time was still the quickest of the British trio, who all saw themselves through.

Charlie Dobson qualified automatically with a third-place finish from the first heat in 44.85s.

He said: “Comfy controlled race. I got to 200 pretty well, then sat a little bit too much on the top bend but came third so automatic Q. Happy with that. Times don’t matter here. It’s all about qualification.”

Samuel Reardon also had to wait to learn his fate after coming fourth in the fourth heat in 44.70s.

“I am still in with a chance in the semis, and I can definitely go faster,” said Reardon. “It’s been a tough year mentally, lots of highs and definite lows.

“I think I am in a good spot physically. It’s just a mental battle you have to get over when you are dealing with injuries throughout the season.”