Matthew Hudson-Smith set a new European 400m record with a brilliant season-opening run at the Diamond League meet in Oslo.
The 29-year-old Briton won in a dominant time of 44.07 seconds, beating his own European record of 44.26 seconds set at the world championships in Budapest last August.
On that occasion, Hudson-Smith was leading until the closing stages but was unable to hold off Jamaica’s Antonio Watson.
Nine months after that heartbreaking defeat, Hudson-Smith, now wearing his name backwards on his vest, got off to a strong start at the Bislett Races and then gathered momentum in the final straight to win by more than half a second.
Former world and Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada came second in 44.58 seconds, with American Vernon Norwood third in 44.68 seconds.
In the women’s 400 metres, Raviai Nielsen and Victoria Ouluogu placed seventh and eighth respectively, while Marileidy Paulino recorded her third win in three Diamond League meets this year.
Daryl Neita clocked a season-best time of 22.50 seconds to finish third in the women’s 200 meters behind Brittany Brown of the United States (22.32) and Marie-Josee-Ta-Loup Smith of Ivory Coast (22.36).
Para athlete Zachary Shaw came second in the 100 metres behind Norway’s Salm Kashafari.
