Wolverhampton's Matthew Hudson-Smith out of Euros to focus on Paris Olympics
Defending European 400-metre champion Matthew Hudson-Smith has withdrawn from the British team for the European Athletics Championships.
Wolverhampton-born Hudson-Smith broke his own European record in the 400 metres with a time of 44.07 in Oslo last week.
However, the 29-year-old has chosen to pull out of the six-day tournament, which starts in Rome on Friday, in order to focus on training ahead of the Olympics in Paris.
Zharnel Hughes, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake have also dropped out of the squad.
The former Birchfield Harriers athlete wrote on X: “After my European 400m record in Oslo, I’ve decided to skip the European Championships in Rome and get back into training for the Olympic Games in Paris.
“Best wishes to everyone in Rome. I will be back for the UK Championships at the end of the month.”
Hudson-Smith won two gold medals in the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2022 European Championships in Munich and collected silver in the 400 metres at the World Championships in Budapest last year.
He will be preparing for his second Olympics and his first since Rio 2016, after missing the postponed Tokyo Olympics three years ago through injury.
