Amy Hunt, the 23-year-old British sprinter who went viral last year for her 'academic badass and track goddess' remark, is preparing for the World Indoor Championships in Poland starting Friday. The comment, made after winning a shock 200m world championship silver medal, was entirely spontaneous, she admits. 'I was so incredibly high with adrenaline that there wasn't that connection between my brain and my mouth,' she says.
Hunt's message has resonated deeply, with teenage girls now messaging her for advice on getting into Oxbridge. She has already helped some achieve their Cambridge dreams and plans to set up a track and field scholarship akin to Stormzy's Merky scholarships. For now, though, her focus is on becoming 'an icon' on the track over the next decade.
Despite numerous post-silver opportunities, including trips to McLaren's F1 headquarters and seeing her NFL team the Minnesota Vikings, Hunt has turned most down to prioritise training. 'I really hate the term sacrifice,' she says. 'This is my job and what I truly love to do. Turning these things down doesn't fill me with any sort of sadness.'
Hunt knows sport's fickleness firsthand: after breaking the world under-18 200m record at 17, a severe quadriceps injury threatened her career. But relay silvers at the 2024 Paris Olympics and in Tokyo proved her resilience. She also faces online abuse, including 'lustful comments' that were more disturbing when she was younger. 'People are always going to hate,' she says, adding that athletes should be open to some criticism for the sport's growth.
This year, Hunt aims to break Dina Asher-Smith's British records in the 100m and 200m, win a treble at the European Championships in Birmingham, and continue her rise. 'My opinion is the only one that matters,' she asserts. 'I don't really care what someone online has to say about my starts.'
