British athlete calls herself 'track goddess' after world championship success

Amy Hunt celebrates the 200 m silver medal win at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September 2025. Photo by AFP

At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Hunt finished second in the 200 m, clocking 22.14 seconds, narrowly behind champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who finished in 21.68 seconds. When her name flashed on the electronic board, tears streamed down her face as she secured her first major medal.

"You can be an academic badass and a track goddess," Amy said after her performance, as quoted by Daily Mail, and described her run as "sexy and aggressive."

"I'm showing you can do everything and anything you set your mind to. You can be the best at everything," she added.

In a Monday appearance on the Untapped podcast, Hunt shared her mental preparation before the final.

"By the time we are on the track, I'm just thinking about the plan as such and trying to get in the most aggressive mindset," she said. "I just stood there mouthing like 'go and f***ing kill them', like to myself, all the time. Thank god the cameras aren't on me. I look so intense.

"I'm just trying to get into the mindset to think pure aggression, absolutely no fear, no fear, get out and be as powerful and aggressive as possible."

Born in 2002, Hunt is considered one of the brightest talents in British athletics, following in the footsteps of Dina Asher-Smith. She began her professional career at 14, quickly making a name for herself in short-distance events.

Vogue magazine hailed her as one of the "faces to define the decade." At 17, Amy made a breakthrough by breaking the world U18 200 m record in 22.42 seconds, becoming the fastest young athlete in the world at that distance. This achievement secured her a spot on the England national team.

Alongside her athletics career, Amy earned a first-class degree in English Literature from Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. She is passionate about medieval literature, especially Geoffrey Chaucer, and is a skilled cellist.

Amy's journey has not been without challenges. Upon starting university, she faced illness and mental health struggles while balancing her studies with training.

"It's been an incredible three years, from a complete tendon rupture, surgical repair, going through the Cambridge system, getting my degree, moving countries to somewhere where I really still don't speak the language," Hunt said, as quoted by The Independent. "It's been a massive rollercoaster, 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."

Now living and training in Italy with a team of international coaches, Amy is targeting a gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.