Great Britain’s Amy Hunt announced herself on the global stage by claiming a superb 200m silver in her first major final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.The 23-year-old stared up at the screen in disbelief before bursting into celebration and skipping down the track as her breakthrough achievement was confirmed.Reaching for the line, Hunt edged Jamaican sprint great Shericka Jackson to second place as American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a dominant clean-sweep of the sprint titles, having already won the 100m.It was GB’s second medal of the championships, following Jake Wightman’s silver in the men’s 1500m.”I have not stopped smiling or crying!” Hunt told BBC Sport.”As soon as I saw my mum, I burst into tears. I knew I could do it as long as I put in a good turn and was with them off the bend. I am so proud of myself.”Moments before the race, I just thought of my grandad. I knew he was watching over me, I knew he was going to guide me. I have a tattoo of his name on my arm.”I just beat some amazing girls and I can’t believe it.”Fellow Briton Dina Asher-Smith, champion five years ago, finished fifth. “Amy did incredibly, bless her,” she said. “I am a bit disappointed in my race. I could have done better with executing and I have to go away and work on that.”Hunt was part of Great Britain’s silver medal-winning women’s 4x100m relay quartet at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which followed their European gold. But this was her first individual global podium and, following an injury-disrupted start to her senior career as she balanced her sporting ambitions with studying at the University of Cambridge, Hunt will hope there are many more to come.She broke into tears as she embraced friends and family, having delivered on the promise shown in breaking world junior records.Hunt set a women’s under-18 200m world record in 2019, breaking Asher-Smith’s British under-20 record in the process – in the same year her compatriot won her world 200m title in Doha.Having finished ahead of two-time defending champion Jackson on the sport’s biggest stage, Hunt proved she is ready to kick on in her career.She clocked 22.14 seconds as Jefferson-Wooden stormed to her second gold in 21.68, becoming the first woman to win both the 100m and 200m at a world championships since Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 2013.
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World Athletics Championships: Britain’s Amy Hunt announces herself on global stage with 200m silver
