by Stuart Weir
Amy Hunt – “Academic badass and track goddess”
Amy Hunt was not in the 100 or 200m at the Paris Olympics as she did not have the qualifying time. A year ago she did not have a meaningful 200m ranking. Now she is officially the second best in the world. Silver in the 200 at the World Championships is probably a surprise but not a shock given the progress she has made this year. Amy is tall and not a great starter, so clearly unsuited to 60m dash – well, yes, apart from the fact that she was 5th in the World Indoors and 6th in the European. Last year she struggled to get a lane in Diamond Leagues. This year she was second in Rome and Paris, third in London and Doha. And just to break the monotony she took a gold medal at the World relays.
Amy was an outstanding junior who then struggled with injuries and also decided to study at the World renowned Cambridge University. No sports scholarships in UK and Cambridge took a dim view of Amy taking her running too seriously.
On graduation, she took the courageous step of setting off for Padua in Northern Italy to work with Marco Airale to join Darryl Neita, Reese Prescott, Jeremiah Azu, Adam Gemili and others. She loved it. He credits Marco with her development: “Marco and I have been working together for 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 me into being a better athlete and a better technician, executor, human being, which is all good”.
Last summer, for various reasons, all the athletes mentioned above decided to leave Marco. Amy told me she never considered it. Firstly she has such confidence in Marco. Secondly, her degree was in Renaissance literature and being in Italy, she describes as “living the dream”. Not making the GB team for the Olympics in Paris in the individual events was a big disappointment but there was the consolation of a silver medal in the relay.
In Tokyo she was third in the semi-final in 11.05 – fastest athlete not progressing to the final. She felt her start had let her down: “I am still learning how to start well against some of the best starters in the world”. In the 200 she set a PR of 22.08 in the semi-final, commenting: “I wanted this final so much, no matter what. I had to beat those girls. It’s so special to do my PB here to make it to the final. I took so much strength from my family and the crowd. I knew I had to run my PB to make it to the final and have a good lane. I’m happy to have delivered what I wanted and what I knew I was capable of.
In the final, she had her customary slow start but made up ground rapidly over the final 50m to take second place in 22.14. That Shericka Jackson was third and Anavia Battle fourth gives you the context of the second place.
There was a long wait for confirmation of the places with Amy going through every emotion before confirmation came. Her own recollections was: “I didn’t know what to do – cry or smile. As soon as I saw my mum, I just burst into tears. I knew I could do it as long as I put together a really good turn and I was with them off the bend. I actually got out really strong. I never saw Marie (Ta-Lou Smith) on my inside. That is why I knew I had a really good turn because this girl is on fire. I believed I had the best top end speed. I just needed to give myself a chance, an opportunity. I did that in the semi-final as well, giving myself a lane where I was able to do my best. I beat some really amazing girls. I cannot believe I did it. I was very promising athlete when I was younger. But then studying and injuries came. I had to back myself a lot to be here and I’m proud of myself for choosing the harder path. I could have chosen an easier way many times, but I chose to go to Cambridge (University) to get a degree. That is my message for young people – you don’t have to give up education. You can be an academic badass and a track goddess. You can be the best in everything”.
The other thing I need to say is that as well as being a great athlete, Any is as nice a person as you will meet anywhere.
Looking at the British context you could have been forgiven for seeing Amy Hunt as the third best sprinter. Darryl Neita was 4th and 5th at the Paris Olympics but then moved from Marco Airale to Lance Brauman. She is very positive about the move and new coaching set-up but it is a big adjustment. It is taking longer than she expected. She did not reach either final in Tokyo. Dina Asher-Smith took gold in the 200 and silver in the 100 in Doha 2019 but has only taken one global bronze since. She moved from her long-term London coach to work with Edrich Floreal in Texas but left him around Easter and has not replaced him so far. She said after the 200: “After the season, I’m going on a little world tour to figure out what I’m looking for towards LA, where the next best base for me is”.
I am sure that we will be Dina and Darryl in the mix in the next worlds but age is on Amy’s side. Dina and Darryl are 29 Amy is 23.
