How new UK sprint star Amy Hunt is on fast track to fame after winning gold as brands queue up to sign ‘relatable’ star

BLINK and, quite literally, you may have missed her. On Monday night, Britain’s Amy Hunt sprinted her way to European gold — hurtling along the track at a speed camera-defying 20mph. Amy after winning women’s 100m gold at the European Athletics Championships Credit: Alamy Glammed-up Amy clutches a bottle of wine in 2022, impressing fans by being so down-to-earth Credit: instagram/amy.hunt And she is now on the fast-track to becoming the country’s best-known female athlete. In a world where sporting stars are programmed to function like robots — eat, sleep, train, repeat — this ­Cambridge University graduate is one smart cookie, with the personality to match. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! As she proudly clutched her medal at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, we got a glimpse of long, brightly-painted acrylics reminiscent, if you squinted, of legendary US sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, or Flo-Jo, whose huge talons made her a global icon after the 1988 Seoul Olympics. (Amy’s design was an ode to the blue kit of Birmingham FC, along with the city’s Jewellery Quarter and Bull Ring shopping centre). Meanwhile, her Instagram page — filled with brooding campaign shots, wine-drinking and bloody hard work — is part influencer, part athlete. In other words, there is something for everybody. And now everybody wants a piece of this athlete. In a world where young girls are growing up using “likes” for currency, Amy is showing there is still a place for genuine hard work. An insider says: “And so a star is born. As marketing execs like to say, Amy is the complete package. Most read in Sport “Supremely talented, but also incredibly disciplined and hard- working and, crucially, she has the likeability factor. And that is ­priceless. “She has grown up in the digital age, which means she is ­business-savvy and astute. “She knows what her brand is and, in a world where — unless you’re the very best — the pay is pretty atrocious, she knows the value of using social media to bolster her media profile. “ ‘Relatable’ is such a buzz word at the minute, and Amy has capitalised on that with some brilliant photos of her clutching wine bottles, going out with her mates and just being human. Amy doing promo work for Puresport Credit: instagram/amy.hunt Beaming Amy kisses her medal Credit: AP Photo/Morgan Harlow “She is also really popular with her Team GB peers and all the support staff — coaches, physios and nutritionists etc. “She’s a role model to young women, managing to combine ­rigorous academic studies (English literature) with five hours of ­training a day. That is no mean feat. “Over the past 24 hours, her agent has been inundated with messages and offers. “Right now, the world really is her oyster.” Growing up, Amy attended Margaret Thatcher’s old grammar school, Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School in Lincolnshire. Maggie, who later became UK Prime Minister, went on to study chemistry at Oxford, while Amy attended its old educational rival, Cambridge. Down with the Gen Z kids, Amy credited the unlikely trio of Megan Thee Stallion, High School Musical and Mamma Mia! as key to helping her stay calm in the build-up to her 100m showdown on Monday. The star, who was raised in Newark, Notts, plays Wordle and Spelling Bee in her down time and regularly checks in with friends and family. She remains guarded about her love life, saying in an interview last year she was prioritising “medals over men”. Although, that being said, when quizzed about her chosen karaoke song, she quipped that it was Maneater by Nelly Furtado. Just 48 hours before Monday night’s 100m final, her mum and dad, Claire and Pete, gifted Amy a set of gold earrings; she normally wears silver. The manifestation clearly worked, because she romped home in 11 seconds flat. As Amy said shortly after victory: “I just had such a magical feeling. I’ve won English Schools here. I’ve raced here as a 13 to 14-year-old. So this is really my track. “I’m a girl from Newark, I’m a Midlands girl. So I just had a feeling that this was going to be my night.” Already, brands have been quick to sign her up, and in the wake of this week’s efforts, more will follow. On her Instagram bio, she describes herself as a “professional fast girl” and already has a lucrative contract with Nike. Other deals include with nutrition company Puresport and beauty brand Nip + Fab, which she promotes on her main grid — but not in an overtly offensive way, unlike many a modern influencer. She also has an active YouTube page, another money-spinning outpost. During the Commonwealth Games, Amy showed herself applying make-up while listening to the High School Musical soundtrack and matching her red nails to her England kit. Literary to the last, she was reading cult favourite The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. After her silver medal win there, she celebrated with a glass of champagne and a paper bag of KFC. On Monday, Amy described feeling “euphoria” after her first gold. But why, reporters asked, was she going for four? “Because I want to be the best,” she replied. “I don’t shy away from that. I train incredibly hard and I back myself so incredibly hard because I do want to be the best. “I’m not saying that I’m the best right now, but that’s something I aspire to be.” In a fortnight that has been ­nothing short of a cataclysmic PR disaster for Cambridge, what a turn Ms Hunt has done for this once-hallowed establishment and its stuffy dons. She graduated in 2023 with a 2:1 from Corpus Christi — traditionally one of the most academically ­rigorous colleges — and it was quick to post a congratulatory message on its official Facebook page. Sprint star Amy is famed for her elaborate talons Credit: instagram/amy.hunt Amy after her women’s 60m win at British 2020 championship event in Glasgow Credit: Getty Because, make no mistake, unlike ex-professor Jason Arday — a man who bragged slightly spuriously about his own athletic performances and intellectual capabilities — Amy is the real deal. After university, she moved to Italy to train in Padua and visits the Guggenheim Museum in Venice most Sundays. With more than 150,000 online followers, people are clamouring to see what it takes to make it as an international sportsperson. She trains morning, noon and night, with rigorous gym sessions consisting of mobility work, plyometrics, weight lifting and conditioning, followed by track sessions and intensive massage and physio. Amy eats to fuel, but has also shared her love of cooking on her TikTok page. She religiously drinks cherry juice before bed to help with her sleep. Smart tech monitors her every move and the quality of her REM sleep. Nothing, for an elite athlete, is left to chance. With 2026 becoming the year of the fat jab, how refreshing it is to see a 24-year-old woman who promotes a rippling body, one designed purely for speed and functionality. Of course, training at such high intensity leaves sportsmen and women at near-constant risk of burn-out or injury. Already, Amy has had her ­setbacks — and overcome them. Her breakthrough individual medal last September was a long time coming, largely because the early years of her senior career were disrupted by injury. She set a women’s under-18 200m world record in 2019, breaking Dina Asher-Smith’s British under-20 record in the process. But it would be six years before she managed to improve on that personal best time in her favoured event. Those six years saw a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Four years ago, she ruptured her tendon at an indoor race in ­Birmingham, resulting in surgery and gruelling rehabilitation. She also damaged one of her quadriceps so badly that her mum would need to lift her out of the shower. When she won her 200m silver medal in Tokyo last year, she called herself a “track goddess and an academic badass”. With an easy smile, she is a natural on camera — and already people on her team are wondering if a follow-up career in broadcasting beckons. A source adds: “Right now, Amy is entirely focused on her athletics career. “In two years’ time, it’ll be the Olympics in Los Angeles and, off the back of these Games, she is sure to be a Team GB poster girl for 2028. “She wants gold — and few people would put it past her. “But beyond that, who knows what could happen. “She does not do the sport for the money, but there is certainly lots of it to be made with her incredible CV. “It is an unbelievably exciting time for Amy and everyone around her.” 5 MORE UP FOR AD WIN HERE are more glamorous athletes with brand potential… KEELY HODGKINSON Keely Hodgkinson won BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2024 Credit: Instagram Middle-distance runner and BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024. Hailed by fans as “the prettiest girl in the world”. The race ace, 24, joked she runs in sunglasses to avoid getting wrinkles. Has deals with Nike, Vitality and Rimmel London. MOLLY CAUDERY Molly Caudery celebrates after winning the Women’s Pole Vault final during the Indoor World Athletics Championships in 2024 Credit: AFP Pole vault star, 26, who is a model and regularly posts bikini snaps online. Signed to W model management and has a deal with Adidas. Missed recent Commonwealth Games due to emergency spinal surgery, but has vowed to be back for LA Olympics in 2028. DESIREE HENRY Desiree Henry documents her journey on YouTube Credit: Getty On a mission to make sprinting sexy. The 200m former World Youth Champion and Olympic relay medallist documents her journey on YouTube. Says she is “passionate about empowering women to build strength, confidence and a positive relationship with their bodies”. Has major advertising deals for appliances and vitamin brands. LAVIAI AND LINA NEILSEN Twins Laviai and Lina Nielsen at the Brit Awards in 2025 Credit: Getty Sprinting and hurdling twins who both won medals at Paris 2024, having risen to the challenge of living with multiple sclerosis. The sisters are signed to Storm model agency and have appeared in Vogue mag – a far cry from Laviai carrying Jessica Ennis-Hill’s kitbag at the 2012 London Olympics. Comment now