Amy Hunt, Britain's newly crowned sprint champion, is set to challenge the world's best at a lucrative new athletics event. The four-time European champion will be a major draw at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, broadcast live on the BBC.
Hunt, who claimed gold in the 100m, 200m, and two relays in Birmingham in August, will compete in both sprint distances in the Hungarian capital, with $150,000 on offer to the winner of each event. Despite a long season featuring two home championships for British athletes, Hunt says she has plenty left as she prepares to face 200m world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Olympic champion Gabby Thomas.
Head-to-head focus
“For me, this is very much a head-to-head competition. It really doesn’t matter about the time. I think that’s where I tend to thrive at the end of the season, because I would like to think I’m one of the fitter and stronger athletes to be able to deal with such a heavy workload,” Hunt said. “I’ve shown up when it mattered already multiple times this year. So I just come into this and have fun.”
Hunt is part of a strong British contingent in Budapest, where Josh Kerr will renew his rivalry with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen in their first meeting since 2024. Kerr broke the world mile record in London in July and followed that with Commonwealth glory over the same distance in Glasgow later that month.
Kerr confident ahead of 1500m showdown
His busy schedule prevented him from competing at the European Championships in Birmingham, a decision Ingebrigtsen criticised. That has added to the anticipation around Sunday's 1500m, arguably the standout event, with Olympic champion Cole Hocker and world champion Isaac Nader also in an elite field.
Kerr believes that after a strong summer, he will have enough to beat his rivals in this new-look event. “I wouldn't like to race me right now, I'd say that. There are a lot of guys out there and my job is to beat every single one of them. (Ingebrigtsen) is a big name in our sport and our distance. It's not going to be easy, it's going to be a hard race but I feel very confident in where I'm at and what the result is going to be on Sunday,” he said.
Elsewhere, Keely Hodgkinson is fit to take on 800m rivals Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol, while Georgia Hunter Bell will be among the favourites in the women's 1500m. Novuna is the Official Finance Partner of British Athletics and proud sponsor of the GB & NI Athletics Team.
