UK 400m - State of play

[carterhatch]

I wanted to put on record before the men's 400 final how pleasing it has been to see the step change in the form of Mathew Hudson-Smith.

There was a pre-recorded interview with MHS, on the BBC, where he talked about changes he had made [nutrition, more professionalism et al] and a medal would be a very welcome outcome. [Prescod take note and run some 200s]

If it is the 'new' MHS who takes to the blocks in the final - I fully exepct at the very least he re-writes his own British record.

A mention of another British 400m runner AHW - he has had quite the roller coaster WCs himself... the PB shows he is moving in the right direction. I'm not a 400m coach, but in running this event, AHW does appear to me to be fighting his natural physiology, he has leaned down from when I first noticed him, but still relatively muscular, and 'fights' his race, rather then the great runners of this distance who flow. Anyway, good luck to the lad, he is only 22 and a sub 45 is surely likely soon ..,


with the hope that Charlie Dobson can stay fit and healthy ... we might even be able to talk about a men's 400 m relay



ps... where's Stew Coach!! I hope all is well with him.

[marilyn1]

merci, carter

[carterhatch]

Yes, I posted a comment on the 'Missing in Inaction' thread ... glad to know we will still have your input

[marilyn1]

There isn't a dedicated topic - of the 'state of play' kind - for this event - so to kick it off, a rather telling exchange on twitter.

Laviai Nielsen - very generously after Ms. Pipi's PB - noted in a tweet l- 'British 400m running 🔥🔥🔥'
Martyn Rooney replies - 'Before anyone else says it… *women'

Rather made me smile at the honesty.

I am really looking forward to the w400 . It might not have the sub 50 times, but it is a very hight quality field, and with the added dimension of our own Stew-coach involved, we might get some additonal insight.

The men ... the standard is as poor as i can recall in all my decades of watching athletics. There is a small cohort of U23s who could make the race competitive, although I noted that Charlie Dobson is not on the start list. I hope that there is some sort of MHS breakout moment, from someone, but not holding my breath.

Carter in no way to do with this post, but somewhere i read you wondered where philipo had gone. I havent; i am now marilyn1

[LuckySpikes]

The South American Federation's website says he will open his season at the Bolivarian Games in Colombia in the first week of July. He's currently at a training camp in Spain, was invited to compete n Eugene but preferred to continue training.

Scratch that! Zambrano is on the 400m startlist this evening in Salamanca.

[Occasional Hope]

Presumably so re Ed Faulds. I’d rather see him delay his return and make a full recovery than rush back and exacerbate any issues.

I don’t think MHS has moved.

[Ladyloz]

Does anyone know MHS coaching set up now? I know he was with Lance Brauman's group previously & still seems to be US based.

Also Ed Faulds hasn't run this outdoor season. Still troubled by whatever caused him to pull out of Euro Indoors?

[carterhatch]

You weren't wrong, OH, you had valid concerns as I too voiced. I even urged Christian Malcolm to personally intervene in the case of both MHS and Reece Prescod. I will never know, but Malcolm, I felt, was uniquely positioned to put an arm around both of these 'gifted' athletes and help them find a way to deliver the sort of performance both are capable of achieving. I truly hope both can make Eugene, fit, healthy and mentally in the right place. A sub 44 by MHS and a sub 9.9 by Prescod - medal or no medal - would be marvelous and something in my near 50 years of watching British athletics thought I would never see.

[Occasional Hope]

Agree re MHS. He's gone backwards since going to the US, and some of that is injury, but I too feel he needs more support than most athletes, and I don't believe he's getting it. He probably also needs guidance making the move to a better setup, and UKA needs to provide that. Otherwise we are seeing a natural gift wasted.

I said this last summer, and obviously was Completely Wrong.

One of the things that's most pleasing about the renaissance of MHS is his mental state, which he finally seems to have sorted out. Whatever he's doing now is obviously working! I definitely feel he can get that record down a bit more now.

[Walsh7]

Don't leave out Tim Hutchings! He couldn't pronounce a Polish name correctly if his life depended on it!

[RunUnlimited]

On MHS, in a better lane, that "6/10 run" would have been close to a 44.2. It was also run in a cool, damp Eugene (which makes Michael Norman's 43.60 DLR all the more remarkable!). Given better weather as well, MHS could get close to the 44 second barrier for sure. In my opinion at least.

On Agyapong, great to see her back racing again after so long out.

[LuckySpikes]

Talking 400metres, have not heard much from Zambrano so far this year.

The South American Federation's website says he will open his season at the Bolivarian Games in Colombia in the first week of July. He's currently at a training camp in Spain, was invited to compete n Eugene but preferred to continue training.

[marilyn1]

When Hudson- Smith gets his 200m down to the very low 20s in the 200m, who knows? For the WC he will have 3 races, assuming he is in the team,so keep your fingers crossed he actually performs to his best standard when it counts.

Talking 400metres, have not heard much from Zambrano so far this year.

[marilyn1]

MHS rated the performance as a 6 out of 10 when talking to Katherine Merry. So he thinks he can go faster. Right time right place sub 44?
Finette Agypong back running this year. out since 2019. She has good history of 400 relay splits at 52+ whilst only running 200's. Recent 23.40 into a 2.4 wind. It'll be interesting see how she progresses.....

When Hudson- Smith gets his 200m down to the very low 20s in the 200m, who knows? For the WC he will have 3 races, assuming he is in the team,so keep your fingers crossed he actually performs to his best standard when it counts.

[marilyn1]

Well Done Mathew Hudson-Smith.

There I was cursing him for another false start [thank god, for once, american officials are more relaxed about such things], about to type 'mercurial' again to describe this gifted young man, and look what he does.

Iwan Thomas called it recently saying his national reocrd would be broken by MHS [many fourm users will also know who he then went on the predict another talented runner would go on and 'smash' that]

Can MHS go faster? I think its possible.

At 11.00 Sunday morning the BBC website barley mention the 'record', its tucked away as a footnote on their report with headlines, Elaine Thompson-Herah beats Dina Asher-Smith ...

American officials 'more relaxed about false starts' , very amusing not. I thought there were rules, carter. I am confident that their officials, who genuinely fill me with gloom, don't screw up too often in the WC. The same officials who consistently refuse to carry out their responsibility may set a new WR by false starting the Marathon in July !!!( or has that already happened)
By the way the Beebs coverage is as mediocre as always, and with the current feminist obsession in the studio i wonder if the next move from those geniuses is to get rid of Crammy and his mates and have Jenny Meadows mispronouncing every athletes name for a bit of interest!!