by Stuart Weir
Amy Hunt – World silver medalist!
One of my absolute highlights of 2025 was Amy Hunt’s silver medal in the Tokyo World Championships. Sadly, for health reasons, I was unable to be there in person but I have watched Amy in seven other meets in 2025 and spoken to her on a few occasions during the year.
Amy took 200 silver in Tokyo with a fast finish in 22.14 behind Melissa Jefferson-Wooden but ahead of Shericka Jackson, Dina-Asher Smith and the rest. She had been ninth in the 100m semi, the fastest not to make the final.
Her comments after winning that silver medal were full of emotion: “Going through the rupture, surgical repair, going through the Cambridge system, getting my degree, moving countries to somewhere where I really still don’t speak the language. It’s been a massive roller coaster, and I’ve just trusted myself the whole entire time, I’ve just known I had it within me, and that failure was never an option for me. I knew I would make it. And even before this race, I visualized it so many times, and to actually finally do it is so incredibly surreal. That’s why I screamed. I knew I had something was within me. I think running so fast, so young, I was running faster than, any of these girls have run aged 17. I knew I was too talented for it to go to waste. I had a fire. I had a light inside of me that just said, like, ‘it’s worth it. Keep going!’”
A year ago Amy did not make the GB team in either 100 or 200m. Now she was a world championship medallist. Going back to 2024, not making the GB team for the Olympics in an individual event was a massive disappointment but she dealt with it and moved on: “It was very frustrating not being selected individually. I think if I was representing any other country I would have by the very nature of medaling in both events at trials, I would have gone individually.
Amy is based in Padua in Italy with coach, Marco Airale. When she joined him his group included Darryl Neita, Jeremiah Azu and Adam Gemili but when the other Brits all left after the 2024 season Amy stayed on and loves it there: “It never crossed my mind [to leave when the others did]. It was never been something that I even so much as considered. I think ever since I joined the group, I’ve gone from strength to strength. I live my dream life in so many ways. I moved to Italy at 21. That’s so cool. Like, who gets to do that? I also just I love the group environment and I love the people, the heat, training. The warmth is so good. I’ve just loved to train here and I think it’s made me into such a better athlete and a better person”.
“Marco and I have been working together for over two years now, and our relationship has just grown and grown and it’s really, really flourished to the point where we can communicate so clearly. And we understand each other’s needs well and he really challenges me in training sessions. When I hear them just before I do them, it seems so overwhelming. But I know that he’s not going to challenge me to do anything he knows I can’t do so. Anything he gives me in the form of a session, I’m going to be capable of. It gives me confidence, knowing that he has that belief in me. But he also challenges me even during the session. Like asking , ‘how did that feel? And then? Why did you feel that? Why do you think that happened? What can we do to fix it?’ He really challenges me and pushes into being a better athlete and a better technician, executor, human being, which is all good.
“He puts in so much time into all of us, all of his athletes, and we all have very good relationships with him. He really works hard to make it an elite environment where everyone can bounce off each other and thrive. And even in terms of making sure we have the best equipment although we train at the most random tiny track in Italy and the gym is very rudimentary. It’s just got bars and weights but he makes sure that he has enough racks for all of us, and he just makes everything seamless. So all that I have to do every day is get on the little tram with the old Italian ladies, to the track, put in 110% effort and then go back home. It means that I can focus on controlling what I need to do. And I just know that everything’s going to be set up when I get to the track. There’s going to be multiple coaches, physios etc. It means I have to think as little as possible, which is how it should be. I should just be coming to track, thinking about performing as well as I can do in that moment”.
In part two Amy shares her experience of being a student athlete at a traditional English university.
