Amy Hunt insisted world 200m silver was “only the beginning” after years of determination not to let her talent “go to waste” finally paid off in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old is well-acquainted with the craft of weaving a satisfying story, having taken the unusual decision to train for the track alongside completing an English degree at the University of Cambridge.
Balancing the books with athletics was challenging enough, even before Hunt learned she needed surgery on a complete tendon rupture three years ago, a recovery that required help from her family just to get out of the shower.
That medal-winning feeling
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 19, 2025
Amy Hunt going through all the emotions after claiming world 200m silver ✨#WCHTokyo25 #NovunaGBNI #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/iDmVZSifIb
“It’s been a massive roller-coaster and I’ve just trusted myself the whole entire time,” said Hunt, whose expression was a mixture of delight and disbelief as she crossed the line in 22.14 seconds, behind the United States’ Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and four hundredths of a second faster than Jamaican bronze medallist Shericka Jackson.
“I’ve known I had it within me and that failure was never an option for me. I knew I would make it. Even before this race, I visualised it so many times and to actually finally do it is incredibly surreal.
“That’s why I screamed. It just shows that you can truly, truly achieve anything. If you truly believe in yourself, anything is possible.”
Dina Asher-Smith, the 2019 world champion, finished fifth in 22.43s, having reacted quickest out of the blocks and been in third place at the halfway point.
Before these championships, Hunt felt she had fallen into “a few years of huge obscurity”, splitting her training between Loughborough and Cambridge, where she would change out of her athletics kit and into robes for dinner at a dining hall “like something out of Harry Potter” and hope she would not be one of the ones called upon to stand up and recite Latin.
Hunt knew what she was capable of, having set a world under-18 200m record of 22.42 in 2019, a mark which still stands, but belief, she remembers, dwindled to a point where “the only people who truly believed were myself, my coach, and my family”.
She added: “I knew I had something within me. I was running so fast, so young, I knew I was too talented for it to go to waste. I had a fire, I had a light inside of me that said it’s worth it, keep going. You truly have something.”
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