Olympic silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith is in a race against time to be fully fit for the World Athletics Championships semi-finals after a hip injury affected his first-round performance.
The Wolverhampton sprinter came into this event among the favourites for gold but notably struggled at Japan National Stadium, finishing fourth in a time of 44.68 seconds.
Botswana's Bayapo Ndori won the heat in 44.36s, while Japan’s Yuki Joseph Nakajima set a new national record of 44.44s.
Jamaica’s Bovel McPherson pipped Hudson-Smith to the final automatic qualification place to set a personal-best 44.51, with the 30-year-old progressing as one of the fastest losers for Tuesday’s semi-finals.
Hudson-Smith appeared to be in a strong position as he entered the home straight but lacked the gas required to keep pace with the top three.
Locked in 🔐
The confirmed @_Novuna GB & NI Team for the 2025 World Championships 👊#WCHTokyo25 pic.twitter.com/7N7y26mtaI— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 1, 2025
He appeared crestfallen upon seeing the result and lay on the track for several minutes, before hobbling to the sidelines.
“It felt flat, and my hips are a bit iffy,” said Hudson-Smith, who set the fifth-fastest time in 400m history at the Olympics last summer.
“I was running and I felt ‘oh no my hips don’t feel good’.
“I got through it, but it hurt man. I don’t know – I really don’t know, I literally had nothing. It’s weird.”
With American Olympic champion Quincy Hall not here this week, the 400 metres looks to be one of the most open races in Tokyo.
Hudson-Smith was running for the first time since he became a dad for the first time three weeks ago.
He said in the build-up that he felt guilty being away from home so soon after his daughter was born but was running for her.
He is hoping to complete the set of World Championships medals after winning silver in Budapest two years ago, and bronze in Eugene a year before.
The semi-finals take place from 1.35pm UK time on Tuesday, and will feature three British athletes in total.
Hudson-Smith is joined by Colchester sprinter Charlie Dobson, who beat him to win the Diamond League event in London in July and hinted at a simmering rivalry.
“I'll let him answer that if he wants to,” he said ahead of these championships starting.
“There's always going to be a bit [of rivalry] when you've got two British athletes running fast over the same distance.
“Matt's been at the top of the game for a lot longer, so he's got a lot more experience and he's got a significantly faster PB, in fairness.”
Dobson narrowly missed the Olympic final last summer but is confident of putting that right here, while Sam Reardon completes the set.
Follow all the action from the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on BBC.
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