Amy Hunt produced her definitive coming-of-age moment on the international stage, storming to 100m glory in Birmingham to claim her first individual senior title and secure Britain’s opening gold medal of the European Athletics Championships.
he victory follows a string of near-misses for the British sprinter. Hunt made her major individual breakthrough last year by claiming 200m silver at the World Championships in Tokyo, before backing it up with a 100m silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow just two weeks ago.
“I have had such a string of silvers and I was starting to get a bit fed up with it, so I thought it was time for gold,” Hunt told reporters following her win.
Her motivation was reinforced by a personal gesture from her family:
“My parents gifted me these gold earrings to finally level up, because I wear all-silver jewellery. They said it was time for gold—they left me that note two nights ago—so it made me quite emotional. It was definitely time for me to come of age here.“
Hunt first captured international attention in 2019 when she set a women’s under-18 world record over 200m (22.42 seconds), shattering Dina Asher-Smith’s British under-20 record in the process. However, bridging the gap to senior success proved to be a multi-year test of resilience.For several years, Hunt balanced elite athletic training with studying for an English Literature degree at Cambridge University. Physical setbacks also took a toll, including a ruptured quad muscle in 2022.
It took six years to improve upon her teenage personal bests, but the turning point came after her graduation in 2023, when she relocated to Padua in northern Italy to train full-time under renowned coach Marco Airale.
With her 100m crown secured and additional events on her schedule—including the 200m and sprint relays—Hunt’s golden performance signals a clear changing of the guard at the top of British sprinting.