Paris 2024 day 12: Matthew Hudson-Smith claims silver in men's 400m

Quincy Hall and Matthew Hudson-Smith were neck and neck for most of the race. Credit: PA

Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith claimed his first Olympic medal with silver in a 400-metre final after losing out on gold by four-hundredths of a second.

The Wolverhampton athlete was leading into the closing stages when American Quincy Hall just pulled ahead to snatch gold in a personal-best 43.40.

It was a day of near misses for Team GB with several silvers picked.

The men's cycling team secured second place to win Britain's 1000th Olympic medal earlier on Wednesday.

Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood were racing against Australia to clinch a gold medal in the final.

Great Britain's Ethan Hayter, Oliver Wood, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon. Credit: PA

Australia, after setting a new world record in Tuesday’s first round, took an early lead after the first couple of laps and maintained it narrowly throughout the race.

Hayter, the team's strongest rider in the first two rounds, was battling to close the gap when he unfortunately slipped forward on his bike.

The silver comes three years after a crash dashed Team GB's hopes in this event, ending their streak of three consecutive Olympic titles.

The team won gold in the 2022 World Championships.

Soon after the men's silver Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jessica Roberts won a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit.

Matthew Hudson-Smith. Credit: PA

Team GB had mixed success on Wednesday across a variety of sports with most competitors making it through to the final round.

Sailing

Michael Beckett finished last in the men's dinghy medal race, narrowly missing out on a medal.

He entered the race in fourth place, just five points from a podium finish, but could not keep up with Australia's gold medalist Matt Wearn and Cyprus' Pavlos Kontides who grabbed silver.

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Team GB’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet go into the mixed multihull medal race in bronze medal position, just six points off a silver medal.

With the medal race worth double points, they will be chasing the Argentinian pair, who sit in second place as it stands.

If they can finish ahead of New Zealand, then they are guaranteed a medal.

Climbing

British pair Toby Roberts and Hamish McArthur qualified for the bouldering and lead final on Wednesday in one of the UK's fastest-growing sports.

Roberts finished second in qualifying after Wednesday’s semi-final lead section on 122.2 points, with McArthur placed eighth on 79.3.

The top eight climbers progressed to Friday’s final, with Japan’s Sorato Anraku leading the way with a score of 137.

Toby Roberts finished second in the qualifier. Credit: PA

McArthur, who started the day in eighth place after the boulder section, said: “I thought it was a really fun route.“The climbing on it was very flowy and smooth if you did it right. It’s definitely a problem solver’s dream.”

The eight finalists start from scratch on Friday with semi-final scores disregarded.

Skateboarding

Olympian Andy MacDonald, 51, failed to make it through to the final eight in the qualifiers needed to secure a chance at the medal.

Team GB's Andy MacDonald is the oldest competitor in Olympic skateboarding history. Credit: PA

His age attracted a lot of media attention but he finished 18th of 22 and never remotely threatened the top eight needed to make the final.

But for an athlete, who 26 years ago was selected the Best Overall Skater in a readers’ poll of a top skateboarding trade magazine, just being at the Olympics was worthy of the gold medal itself.

“People were like ‘are you going for the gold?’ and I was saying if they’re giving away gold medals for whoever is having the most fun I’ve definitely got it racked up,” said Macdonald, who is 35 years older than British teammates Sky Brown and Lola Tambling.

Diving

Jack Laugher and Jordan Houlden both progressed to the men’s 3m springboard final on Wednesday, giving them a chance at scoring a medal on Thursday.

Laugher earned bronze in the event at Tokyo 2020 and he got off to a strong start in the semi-finals, posting scores of 86.70 and 87.50 in the first two rounds.

He then consistently held third place throughout the competition and finished on a high with 82.80 on his final dive.

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