Quincy Hall’s friends and family went through every emotion as the US athlete somehow fought his way back to seal gold in a sensational men’s 400m final at the Paris Olympics this evening.
Matthew Hudson-Smith worked himself into a commanding position approaching the final bend and the Team GB star raced towards the finish line with Hall way back in fourth place.
But as Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jareem Richards faded, Hall found a new lease of life and powered his way back into contention, battling with ever fibre of his being in the dying embers of the race.
Remarkably, the American pipped Hudson-Smith at the very death to get his hands on the gold medal with an astonishing time of 43.40 seconds – the fourth fastest 400m ever recorded.
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Hudson-Smith’s time of 43.44 seconds was the fifth quickest in history but it appeared to provide little consolation for the heartbroken Brit, who was consoled by his parents in the immediate aftermath of the race.
‘I saw my family and I didn’t even know they were here!’ Hudson-Smith later told BBC Sport.
‘It was a bit of a shock really because I hate them watching me as well! My mum and my dad don’t really watch me because they hate it, just as much as I hate them watching me.
‘It’s crazy that they came and it’s been a hell of a journey, man.’
Much of Hall’s family, meanwhile, watched the drama play out back home in the States, as the 26-year-old added to the 4x400m relay gold he won at the World Championships last year.
KSHB 41 were invited to the family’s watch-along party and the scenes as their loved one managed to claw his way back to clinch victory were truly a sight to behold.
‘Watching him pass them all… hey, what did I tell you when you walked in this house?! Apex competitor,’ Milton Hall, Quincy’s brother, later told the Kansas City TV station.
‘The baddest man on two feet. Kansas City born! Let’s go!’
Speaking at a press conference following the race, Hall revealed how he had trained precisely for the kind of finish that unfolded on the night.
On his position heading into the final bend, Hall explained: ‘The race was anyone’s at that point.
‘I just wanted to keep doing what my coach told me to do: just keep driving, keep driving and get home. There was grind, determination.
‘We do a lot of hard practices and we focus on coming home at the end of each practice so that was nothing more than me just trying to go harder and harder which I’m used to doing.’
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