by Stuart WeirAmber Anning on the march
Amber Anning’s first Olympics – Paris – could hardly realistically have gone better! It started with the anchor leg in the 4 X 400 mixed relay, which took the team to a bronze medal. In the individual 400m, she ran a PR of 49.47 in the semi-final to qualify for the final in second place. In the final, she can 49.29, a second PR, and this time also a national record. She rounded off her week with a bronze in the 4 by 400, bringing the team home in another national record time.
After a hard winter’s work, she entered the European and World Indoors. In Apeldoorn, she ran a comfortable prelim, finishing first. But, but, but. She had stepped out of her lane and was DQed. It was incredibly frustrating, as she was in a comfortable qualifying position, but rules are rules. She took some consolation by running the anchor leg of the 4 by 400 relay, bringing the team home for a national record-breaking silver medal.
She went to Nanjing determined to make amends. GB took only a small team to China; no relay teams. It was just about the individual 400 for Amber. It wasn’t easy going out to run another indoor race in those tight indoor lanes and sharp bends. She explained her preparation: “I prayed a lot, worked with the coach, put my head down, and trained hard for this. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I was a little bit anxious, but leading up to these champs, I had a chance to go on the track and get a block start in before the competition, which I didn’t do in the Netherlands, something which eased my nerves.”
She won the preliminary in 50.79 and satisfied the officials with her position on the track. In the final, she got out well, and as they broke from lanes, she tried to take the lead and clashed with Alexis Holmes, who just held her off. There was no panic from Anning. As she told me afterward, “I knew I had to remain calm because there was still the race to finish at the end of the day. And honestly, if I had panicked, I think that could have affected the rest of the race. I don’t think I would have been able to finish the way I did – so I knew what I had to do. As an athlete, you must always learn to adapt and make decisions quickly. It was a split second for me, and I could have lost my momentum. But, I thought, let’s get back into the race and just be patient and wait until you can strike again. There was no time to think that even though it was a long race, it was over so quickly. So I knew I had to be careful about my actions after not taking the break”.
She summed up her win: “’ World champion’ sounds nice! It’s been a journey. It was a very close race, probably not quite what I had imagined and pictured regarding my execution, but I was just so grateful that I could come away and win. I fought to the end.
I came here wanting the win after the Europeans’ disappointment. I wanted the gold, and I’m grateful I could get the job done and bring a medal back home.
I knew it would be close with the caliber of girls in this race, especially in getting that break. But I stayed strong, had faith in myself, brought to the end, and fought for that line.”
There is a tradition in the GB team that someone with the national flag waits to hand it to any medalling athlete. At the end of the race, it was Jeremiah Azu who had the flag for her, something that pleased her: “Jeremiah and I have been in this sport for as long as I can remember, coming through the junior ranks, and to see both of us get our first world titles here is just a dream come true. It’s the moment I’ll be speaking about all week.”
She was a student at Arkansas and decided on graduation to stay with the Razorbacks. “My last collegiate year was really successful. I also have a lot of faith in my coach (Chris Johnson) and the training group. We have a great facility, but one of the best indoor facilities in the world with our track, with a bunch of top 400-meter runners like Nickisha Price, Britton Wilson, and Bella Whittaker. It’s just an inspiring group of girls who can push me daily. And my coach is tremendous at being comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s an environment where I have no choice but to be uncomfortable every day because everything’s unexpected. I’ve got a great group of people who continue pushing me. So yeah, I think it definitely keeps me on my toes. And I thought that it only made sense to stay in an environment where I’ve already been successful, especially going to my first year as a pro. Plus, the weather is much better than in England, making it a bit easier going into the outdoor season”.
Amber will go into her first summer season as a professional with added confidence. When speaking to me, she expected her first primary race to be the Doha Diamond League. She said that the year will be fascinating and “I’m just gonna take it day by day, enjoy the pro circuit, enjoy the travel, seeing different countries and running on various tracks. They aim to be consistent with my times, prepping for GB trials and making that team for Tokyo.
UK Athletics arranged the interview with Amber as part of the ticket launch for the European Championships in Birmingham next year. Be the first to know when tickets drop! Sign up at Birmingham26.com for event updates, including tickets, volunteer opportunities, and exclusive news.
