Great Britain’s recently crowned European Championships 400m champion Matthew Hudson-Smith has been named among the highlighted the athletes already confirmed to take part in Birmingham at next Saturday’s Muller Grand Prix, meeting organizers revealed this weekend.
The Muller Grand Prix is the 12th stop in the IAAF Diamond League.
Hudson-Smith hinted at his potential for breaking the national 400m record of 44.36 in the semifinals of the European Championships, when he significantly eased down during the closing stages and clocked 44.76.
The 23-year-old almost replicated that time in the final, securing the gold medal with 44.78.
Hudson-Smith, an Olympic Games finalist, will now turn his attention to Birmingham, where he will match strides with experienced Commonwealth champion Isaac Makwala of Botswana, as well as Americans Fred Kerley and world and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor.
World bronze medallist Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar who ran a PB of 44.07 at last month’s IAAF Diamond League meeting in London will also lined up int he event.
With the times that he, Makwala (43.72) and Fred Kerley (43.70) are capable of, it is plausible that the British record could well fall on home soil in Birmingham.
“The record is going to come,” said Hudson-Smith. “It’s just a matter of time. It’s not an ‘if’, it’s ‘when’. Everyone knows I can do it.”
Hudson-Smith will be joined in Birmingham by fellow European Championships medal winners Dina Asher-Smith, Zharnel Hughes, Reece Prescod and Holly Bradshaw.