Amy Hunt’s busy year!
The Tatler, a monthly British high-society and luxury lifestyle magazine described as “a powerful mix of glamour, fashion, society and features,” has just published the Tatler Little Black Book, its annual roll call of the country’s 200 most eligible people. Amy Hunt made the top ten, an impressive accolade which shows how she is a lot more than just a sprinter.
RunBlogRun is puzzled as to how Amy finds the time, as her 2026 season, starting on 3 February and ending on 13 September, comprised 46 races. Since you asked, it comprised:
50m twice
60m ten times
100m x 17
200m X 13
Four Relays
She ran in 13 countries: Belgium, China, Czechia, England, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and USA. For the record, your correspondent watched 24 of them live.
By anyone’standards, 46 races is a lot. Talking to her in Brussels at the Diamond League Final, she gave insight into why she was running a 40th race while Julien Alfred, an opponent in Brussels, was in her 17th race.
Amy explained: “Oh my gosh, I am such a competitive person, and I know that everyone would say that I’m an absolute beast on family game nights. I’m incredibly competitive, and I love to win and take people head-to-head. I’mI’mmeone who can stand on that starting line and not be afraid of anyone. Although I have so much love and respect for the girls, I grew up watching. They all have such incredibly inspiring stories, yet I’mI’mver afraid to take any of them on. I’ve said many times I think I have the best job in the world, so why would I not do that as many times as possible?”
She explained further that her approach to the different races varied: “As you said, some of those are relays, some of those are kind of heats, some of those are 60 meters, which function as a training exercise for us rather than a very deadly serious race. So some of those races we’re using as training sessions; sometimes a coach might say, ‘Why don’t we just race? Instead of doing three 150s on a Saturday, let’s fly and do a 200 somewhere around the world.’ ‘It’s much more fun, and I’m lucky that I train as hard as I do, and the training is set up in a way that lets me pursue this, show up, show off, be in front of the crowd, and soak it all in. This career is incredibly short, and I think. While you can, it’s good to get out there. I’m 24, so it’s easy to say yes to as many things as possible.” You will immediately notice that when you talk to Amy,y you get good value! No monosyllabic bland answers. You feel that you are getting an honest and thoughtful response. She agreed to speak to me in Paris last year, told me that she only had 20 minutes but was still chatting 35 minutes later.
Amy announced that she was planning not just to double up (100/200) at the European Championships in Birmingham but to quadruple – to run women’s mixed relays – seven races in six days. Birmingham, she pointed out, was a track where she had run many times as a child. The Power of 10 website records her running 25.47 in Birmingham in 2015, aged 12!
At the 2026 European Championships, Amy collected 4 gold medals, running 11.00 and 22.19. She summed up the week after the mixed relay: “Thank you so much, Birmingham. I am over the moon to finish off these championships with some of my best friends in the sport. Jeremiah Azu and I have the same birthday. Doing this all together was incredible; we did our first changeovers for the first time ever, an hour before the race. We said it was like when you are queuing for a roller-coaster; you can see what is about to happen, you get nervous. When you get off, you want to do it all over again”
Earlier in the season, Amy took silver in the Commonwealth Games 100m in Glasgow behind Zoe Hobbs (New Zealand). She was the only sprinter to double-up in the Diamond League final, finishing second (100m) and third (200m). She also doubled in the World Ultimate – fourth in the 200 and eighth in the 100. As Amy likes to put it, “the 200 is my husband and the 100 is my boyfriend. “
Amy has a BA in English Literature from the prestigious Cambridge University, specializing in the Renaissance. Now based in Northern Italy, she works with coach Marco Airale and spends her time off in museums. She also has a lovely YouTube channel, Amy Hunt – can’tbe.
I can’t wait to see what she can achieve in 2027.
