Matthew Hudson-Smith might not have won the Olympic gold he craved but he found something a whole lot more valuable at the Stade de France.

Last year, Hudson-Smith (Gary Evans, Birchfield Harriers) opened up on his mental health struggles, revealing he’d tried to take his own life after missing selection for the Tokyo Olympics.

The death of coach Lloyd Cowan hit him hard and the pressure of expectation weighed him down, as did a run of injuries which left him frustrated his potential was going to waste. He briefly worked in a supermarket and was considering quitting the sport to retrain as an electrician.

But a return to the track and the Olympic stage, saw silverware finally in his clutches, pipped to gold by the USA’s Quincy Hall in a time of 43.40 seconds, a winning run which was the fourth fastest of all-time.

Hudson-Smith himself had never run faster – he carved three tenths of a second off his personal best to clock 43.44 for a new European record – but that didn’t take the four hundredth of a second winning margin any easier to take.

In truth, Hudson-Smith’s knew that his performance was about so much more than the crude metric of gold, silver and bronze that too often defines these Games.

It’s Matt’s moment 🥈

A fantastic silver medal and another European record for our 400m star @mattonthefloor

Read our evening wrap here 👇#WhereItStarts | #Paris2024 | #Athletics

— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) August 7, 2024

“Sometimes the journey is better than the result and it’s been a hell of a journey,” he said.

“I’m just grateful. I’ve got an Olympic silver medal and how many people can say that? I’ve been the bridesmaid a couple of times now but my time is coming. I’m just happy and grateful.

“I thought I’d cleared the field. I knew someone was going to come, I wasn’t trying to ease up, I was running to the line but he got me, it happens.

“It’s been crazy, I’m so grateful, I’m so happy. It’s just the start, I’m healthy, my time will come.”

Hudson-Smith arrived in Paris brimming with confidence after his world leading time of 43.74 at the London Athletics Meet.

He’d been all business through the heats and knew he was the one to beat, as he sought to become the first British man to win the one lap showpiece since Eric Liddell, immortalised in Chariots of Fire, here in Paris a century ago.

Matt Hudson-Smith has battled the lowest of lows

Now he’s an Olympic silver medallist and the fifth fastest 400m runner of all time 👏

43.44 🙌#WhereItStarts | #Paris2024 | #Athletics pic.twitter.com/P1LbnAuJbZ

— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) August 7, 2024

With 50 metres to go, he was clear but Hall was closing the gap with every stride.

Hudson-Smith made no excuses for his emotions as he crossed the line, unexpectedly finding his mum Cheryl in the crowd and letting the tears flow.

“My family are here and I didn’t expect that, it was a bit of a shock,” he added.

“I hate them watching me and my parents don’t really watch me because they hate it too!

“I ran it exactly the way my coach told me to. We knew it was going to come down to the last 50 metres and I thought I had it but he had an extra gear.

“I hit the gear a little bit too late, as we came up he had one step on me and that was it. I’m healthy, this is just the start and time to build. My time is going to come.”

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Watch every moment of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletics competitions on Discovery+ and BBC Sport.