Amy Hunt enjoyed a glass of champagne, feasted on Kentucky Fried Chicken, had a massage and went to sleep at four o’clock in the morning knowing she was the first athlete to win four gold medals at a single European Athletics championships.
The 24-year old wrapped up the individual part of her quest, a sprint double, then added women’s 4x100m gold on Saturday in Birmingham before anchoring Great Britain home in the inaugural European mixed 4x100m relay 24 hours later to complete the unprecedented quadruple.
Like Josh Kerr, who brought the public along with him in his journey to break the world mile record last month, Hunt was fearless about drawing a line under her ambition before the Europeans, succinctly wrapping it up in a High School Musical reference when she declared “I want it all”.
“I think speaking confidently kind of draws people in,” said Hunt, the morning after making European history. “I think people are attracted to that kind of no facade, full confidence, full-throttle kind of way of speaking.
“In other sports, if you’re going to a Wimbledon final, it’s obviously quite clear you want to win, but I think sometimes (in athletics), there’s a lot more jeopardy involved in what we do, and because there are a lot more people on the line running against us, sometimes people are a bit more afraid of voicing their ambitions.
“But I think life is short. Why not be ambitious? We’re all thinking these things, so why not say them out loud?”
By many bookmakers’ odds, Hunt is now the outright favourite to win the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, joining Kerr, second on most of those lists, while Birmingham’s European 1500m champion, Georgia Hunter Bell, is also in the shortlist conversation.
It is all the more remarkable for British athletics in a year that does not feature an Olympics or a world championships.
“I think it just speaks to the resurgence and the kind of reignition of track and field in 2026,” said Hunt. “It’s been amazing to see the public fall back in love with us a little bit and to be in people’s minds and hearts.
“I think athletics coming back with a swagger is what everyone needs.”
The Cambridge graduate’s career choices echo that of another SPOTY contender, Jude Bellingham, who escaped the more intense early-career scrutiny and spotlight of England when he chose to sign with Borussia Dortmund.
Hunt believes her “secluded set-up” in northern Italy, under coach Marco Airale, automatically offers a protective bubble from her rapidly-rising celebrity.
The Gen Z athlete, who will race across 200m in Lausanne on Friday, is genuinely proud of her limited screen time in Birmingham, but concedes it’s now probably time to “give Keely (Hodgkinson) a little text to see how she manages (the fame).
“But it’s definitely not something I shy away from,” she added. “I’m not scared of it at all. I think it’s a privilege to be famous as a track person.”
