By Charlie Bennett in Tokyo

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Matt Hudson-Smith has a new and more powerful motivator for winning the World Championship title next week: his new-born daughter waiting for him at home. The 400m sprinter begins his latest bid for an elusive global gold in Tokyo on Sunday, with the final to follow next Thursday. Gold would cap off an incredible rise an athlete who just over a decade ago was stacking shelves in Asda , and four years ago was so beset by mental health issues that he considered taking his own life. Now 30, Hudson-Smith has never been happier, especially in the middle of a year that – even by his standards – has been a rollercoaster. Hamstring injuries and illness have restricted him, and he has been unable to produce the headline-making times of a year ago that saw him win Olympic silver last summer in the fifth-fastest time in history. However, his main race has been off the track – and one he was unable to influence. As soon as he and wife Antonia Tyson discovered they were expecting their first child, Hudson-Smith knew it would be close to the World Championship and even feared his daughter would be born on the day of the 400m final. In the end, he needn’t have worried. His baby girl, already taking after her dad, came first, three weeks before Hudson-Smith settles into the blocks for his first heat. “It is a build-up I have never had before,” he said. “This is a whole different spectrum to what I have ever experienced. It was a very fun-ish experience. It was very stressful, but it has been good. “As an athlete you have to be selfish because you do a lot of things for yourself. Even now, she has just been born and here I am in Tokyo, so there is some guilt in that regard. I am not involved as I want to be but, at the same time, I am grateful that my family know this job provides for us. “I am not doing it for myself anymore; I am doing it for my family. Before, I was just in it for myself, the glory, and my ego, chasing medals. Whereas now, there is the added element of, yes I still get the medals and somewhat the ego, but it is for my family and creating my own little bit of history. “I used to say that in 10 years’ time, when I look back on my career, would I be happy? Whereas now, I want my daughter to look back on my career and be proud of me. That is how I now see things.” Becoming a dad is the latest chapter in Hudson-Smith’s journey. After dreams of becoming a footballer faded, he considered quitting Asda for the army before his big break on the track, where he smashed his personal best at a Glasgow Diamond League event in 2014. Commonwealth and European golds soon followed but injuries and mental health issues threatened to cut his career short. Thankfully, since 2022, he has been on an upward trajectory on and off the track. He won World Championship bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023 before his sensational Olympic performance. He stopped the clock in 43.45 seconds, a huge personal best, national record, European record and enough to win gold in all but one other Olympic final ever. Unfortunately for him, American Quincy Hall ran the fourth fastest ever to snatch gold. “I would have won but Quincy Hall had a divine intervention down that home straight,” he said. “It was insane.” This season, Hudson-Smith’s times have been solid, consistently in the low 44s but that won’t be enough to win next Thursday’s final. However, he is confident there is something “spectacular” coming. “If I asked myself in 2022, had I reached my potential or achieved what I wanted to, I would have said no. I had not reached any part of it,” he added – speaking at a Novuna-backed British camp, with the company financing the ambitions of millions across the UK, from helping business grow and individuals plan for the future, to backing British Athletics on the global stage. “Now, I am still getting there. There is more I know I can achieve. Training has indicated I am in the right shape; my coach has indicated it. “I know there is something ridiculously special in there. That added intensity and pressure this year has involved has helped me achieve it. “I definitely feel I have now done what I needed to do in my career for the outside noise. This 20% is for myself – and for my daughter.” Together, we make the important things happen – on the track, in business and in life. As a trusted finance partner, Novuna helps millions of people and businesses everyday across the UK achieve their goals. Find out more www.Novuna.co.uk and @_novuna