Stars continue to shine on another golden night in Budapest
24-hours ago Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith claimed a gutsy 400m silver as he finished an agonising 0.09 seconds behind Jamaican champion Antonio Watson.
The 28-year-old led until the closing stages but could not hold off Watson, who clocked victory in 44.22 secs. He won World bronze, Commonwealth silver and European gold during the 2022 season after overcoming a litany of career-threatening injuries to accomplish them.
Then, following on from the Wolverhampton-born star’s heroics, and 24-hours later, another night of golden athletics in Budapest saw the very best doing their very best… when it really mattered as Yulimar Rojas, Shericka Jackson and Noah Lyles shone a golden bright in the World Athletics Championship.
For Venezuelan, Rojas, she was one who shone when it mattered, when, in a tense triple-jump final round she went from being on the verge of early elimination from the competition before she pulled off the jump of her life to win what was for her an expected gold medal. But for sprint queen, Jackson, her gold was, well, pretty much as expected as the Jamaican powered to a smooth victory in the women’s 200 metres sprint final.
Another of the more expected wins came from now three-times world champion Lyle who showed all of his class and panache as he led a high-class field to winning the men’s 200m final. And, after closing the line he held up three fingers to the camera to highlight the fact that he has won the 200m title three time in a row - 2019, 2022 and 2023.
“He (Lyles) looked so good,” said former world 110m hurdles champion, Colin Jackson. “An incredibly smooth technician – he’s just so lovely to watch.”
Speaking after her gold medal win, Jackson said: “As an athlete you have to bounce back from what you call a disappointment. One of my main goals this season was to win both and it didn’t happen.
“I am super grateful. For me I just wanted to refocus, and I think I did pretty good tonight and I am getting where I wanted to be.