The world Under-18 200m record holder on juggling studies with athletics, Olympic hopes and the excitement of taking on Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce this weekendBarely a month after her 17th birthday last summer, the
British sprinter Amy Hunt ran a 200 metres so fast that her spikes were actually smouldering as she crossed the finish line. And so, emphatically, were the record books. Hunt’s time of 22.42 secs in Mannheim in June not only broke the women’s Under-18 world record – the men’s version is held by a certain Usain Bolt – and was the third fastest ever by a British woman, but it would have also won a bronze medal behind Dina Asher-Smith at the recent world championships.
“It was 39c that day in
Germany and honestly my feet were so hot that my spikes melted a little,” says Hunt, laughing. “It was my overriding memory. I don’t remember what happened between 50m and 150m – it was all a bit of a blur. Afterwards I went back and told my coach that I never believed I would run a time like that, but he immediately replied that I did!”