Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith and American Quincy Hall won their Olympic 400 metres semifinal heats on Tuesday but Grenada’s Kirani James sent a warning shot that the final will not be a walk in the park for the two favourites.
The gold is widely expected to go to Hudson-Smith or Hall, but triple Olympic medallist James showed his mettle with a 43.78-second run, the fastest of the night and his best this season.
Going into the semifinal Hudson-Smith and Hall were the only men in the world to break 44 seconds this year, but both James and Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga joined them, with Samukonga running a national record 43.81.
Hudson-Smith still has the world lead this year with 43.74 seconds, and his bid to become the first Briton in a century to win 400 metres gold seemed on track after he comfortably won his heat, easing up in the home stretch to save himself for Wednesday’s final.
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Hall took the lead halfway through his heat and crossed the line in 43.95, well ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards who also booked his place in the final.
Three US athletes will compete in the final, with Michael Norman and Christopher Bailey also qualifying.
James, 31, is an Olympic veteran who won gold in London, silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.
The first two in each of three heats, and the next two fastest overall, advanced to the final set for Wednesday at 9:20 p.m. local time.
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