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European Athletics Championships 2026: Matthew Hudson-Smith wins historic 400m gold

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Jenny Meadows

Born in Wolverhampton, Hudson-Smith said before the championships that it would “mean the world” to land gold not only home soil, but where he first began working towards his dreams.

With his achievements since those early training sessions recognised in writing on the north stand, to Hudson-Smith’s mind there could be only one possible outcome.

He did not make it easy for himself, however.

Entering the championships as the fastest European this year, the Briton admitted he “misjudged” his semi-final after fading to second place in his heat – an error which meant he had to pursue gold from the outside lane.

Unable to monitor the early progress of his rivals, Hudson-Smith went out hard and had established enough of a gap entering the home straight to reassure the home fans that all was under control.

The European record holder over 400m, and the sixth-fastest man of all time in the one-lap event, missed out on successive global titles by mere fractions of a second at both the World Championships in 2023 and Paris 2024 Olympics.

Those stunning silvers followed the toughest period of his life, but he put three years of “absolute hell” behind him to win world bronze in 2022 as he re-established himself among the world’s best.

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On the European stage, there has been no shortage of golden moments – but none will come close to this emotional full-circle moment.

Gold was secured in 44.17 seconds, with Frenchman Muhammad Abdallah Kounta next to cross the line in 44.40.

Speaking on BBC TV, three-time world heptathlon champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said: “What a moment. This will stay with Matthew Hudson-Smith forever.

“It means so much and the pressure was piled on him. Anything but a gold medal here for him would have been a disappointment.”

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Pierre Gasly loses Monaco podium after McLaren and Red Bull win appeals

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Pierre Gasly's Alpine approaches the hairpin during the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix

The discrepancy between the official F1 measurement and the possible shorter distance did not mean that the official measurement was incorrect, the court said.

While it was concluded after the race that a shorter line was possible, the court of appeal ruled that “sporting fairness absolutely precludes the retrospective replacement” of an established calibration parameter “by a different geometric or measurement approach for the purpose of re-adjudicating an individual competitor’s result”.

The controversy arose from the fact that there was a 77-centimetre discrepancy between the officially measured distance of the pit lane and the real shortest route a driver could take.

It was established at Alpine’s appeal in June that Gasly had not exceeded the pit-lane speeding limit by this new measurement, which was why the penalty was overturned.

However, McLaren appealed on the grounds of sporting fairness and their own competitive interests, as Piastri had lost two points as a consequence of the situation.

The Australian was one of several drivers who did serve a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty.

The court of appeal verdict rests on the following conclusions:

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  • F1 is designated by the FIA to measure the pit-lane speed limit, which is applied by “average speed over the relevant timing sector rather than instantaneous speed”.

  • The distance applied should be the same for each car.

  • Although it was later established that Gasly never exceeded the 60km/h limit over a shorter distance it was possible to take, the “benchmark cannot be retrospectively displaced for one competitor after the competition has been conducted against it”.

  • Although F1 concluded after the event that a shorter distance, measured by a different method, meant it should have selected a different line for its calculation, that did not mean the original calculation was inaccurate of itself.

  • The pit-lane length applied “was physically tape-measured, checked before being entered, used throughout free practice sessions and the race, specifically re-examined when concerns were raised before the race, and reconfirmed again during the race when the stewards sought reassurance. At no point did F1 advise the competitors, race control or the stewards that a different distance parameter should apply”.

  • “The enforcement regime… is workable only if the benchmark against which all competitors calibrate is common, stable and applied equally throughout the competition”.

  • “Once the official timekeeper has established and adopted the distance parameter used… and competitors have been required to calibrate their cars and conduct the competition by reference to that common parameter, sporting fairness and equal treatment require that the parameter remains fixed”.

Alpine said in a statement: “While we disagree with the decision, and still fully maintain that car 10 (Gasly) did not exceed the pit-lane speed limit at any point during the race, the team acknowledges the decision of the judging panel from the recent hearing in Paris.

“While the result is not what we had hoped for, as we feel that we have been unjustly punished, the team is firmly focused on continuing to improve its performance on track and remains in a close and very competitive championship fight.”

McLaren said: “We welcome the decision of the FIA international court of appeal, a decision which provides important clarity for teams and all the sport’s stakeholders and helps protect the integrity of the sport and trust in its regulatory framework.

“Our appeal was not directed at any competitor or at the FIA. It was brought, and pursued to its conclusion, in the interests of the sport and to support the consistent and fair application of the regulations for all participants.”

The court of appeal did not address the question of whether the pit-lane speeding penalties awarded to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Russell and Piastri were correct under the established measurement, or whether their cars ever physically exceeded the 60km/h limit.

That was not relevant to the bounds of the hearing, which was to address McLaren’s and Red Bull’s protest against the decision to rescind Gasly’s penalty.

Mercedes also contend that Russell never exceeded 60km/h. He was running ahead of Hadjar and Gasly before his first penalty.

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He was demoted out of the points because Mercedes failed to correctly serve the penalty at a subsequent pit stop. That offence earned a drive-through penalty which dropped him to 12th place.

Alpine say they have sent the trophy for third place over to Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base, and that they are considering their options as to whether to take the case further.

Their only remaining likely course of action, should they wish to pursue it, would be to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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Harry Kane: Europe’s top scorer plays like a midfielder – we asked him to break down his game

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A stylistic collage of Harry Kane, the Ballon d'Or and Vincent Kompany

“Over the last five or six years, man-to-man pressure has become bigger,” Kane says.

“European football is physical and top teams are trying to win the ball back high, trusting their defenders and midfielders to defend man for man to win their battles.”

Given that change, the best teams have recruited physical athletes and brilliant dribblers who can beat their man when the game becomes a series of one-against-ones.

Kane, not known for his dribbling – and by his own admission “not the fastest”, has thrived on his own terms.

Against Dortmund, there was a specific moment Kane dropped deep, looking to arrive in space unmarked. Recognising the danger, two players converged on the Englishman.

Kane’s dribbling is cerebral. His speed of thought provides him solutions to problems others would attempt to solve with their feet alone.

After getting low and using his strength to shrug centre-back Waldemar Anton off him, Kane rose, slightly adjusting his body to the right. These micro-adjustments are a hallmark of his game and through them he is able to shift an entire team’s momentum.

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Fooled by this feint, Daniel Svensson and Jobe Bellingham found themselves wrong-footed as Kane snapped the ball back the other way, opening up the entire pitch from within Bayern’s half.

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Brian Barry-Murphy: Head coach to become Cardiff’s longest serving boss since Neil Warnock

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Brian Barry-Murphy swings a scarf above his head after guiding Cardiff to promotion from League One.

Barry-Murphy took the reins at Cardiff during a difficult period for the club after their first relegation to the third tier in 22 years.

The former Rochdale manager exceeded the average 277-day tenure of his predecessors by March of this year, when the Bluebirds were second in League One.

And like Warnock he delivered a promotion, although his came in the first season, to get Cardiff back into the Championship at the first attempt.

By winning 34 of his 62 games in charge of the Bluebirds thus far, Barry-Murphy has achieved that goal more often than not.

Average attendances for home games increased in League One – despite relegation the previous season – and will likely do so again this campaign.

The emergence of several talented youngsters and the style of play adopted during his spell has rejuvenated the feeling among Cardiff fans.

And after three draws and a defeat to start the campaign, the question now is whether he can maintain the positive feeling in the Championship.

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Barry-Murphy is confident of it, even after a quiet transfer deadline day, during which Cardiff were unable to sign the targets their head coach wanted.

Many fans have voiced their concern about a lack of squad depth, with only four players recruited at the Cardiff City Stadium this summer.

But Barry-Murphy feels he has been backed in the transfer window and is pleased with the players at his disposal for a gruelling Championship season.

There would be no better way for the Irishman to mark his latest Bluebirds achievement than to claim his first Championship win on Saturday.

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