Amy Hunt has always done things a little differently. As well as Olympic ambitions on the track, the University of Cambridge graduate has plans to return to academia.
First though, she intends to be one of the stars of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, which take place between 10-16 August.
Lining up over 100m and 200m, as well as in a pair of relays at the Alexander Stadium, Hunt will be in constant action at her second Europeans, having won a gold medal as part of the women’s 4x100m relay in Rome two years ago.
That came a matter of weeks before she won Olympic silver in the same relay in Paris, before her true breakthrough last September when she won World Championship silver over 200m in Tokyo.
Add in a 100m silver in Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games and the 24-year-old now has medals at every major championships, at a time when many of her GB teammates chose to skip the trip north.
She may well be Britain’s busiest athlete, but, after a quadriceps rupture that threatened to derail her career altogether, it’s little wonder Hunt is desperate to take advantage of every medal opportunity that comes her way.
She said: “I don’t want to go on my Wikipedia page in 30 years’ time and just see one or two medals. I want to see lots of medals. That’s really important to me.
“We don’t get much representation in terms of media. We’re not NBA players who are on TV three times a week and everyone’s seeing our faces.”
Hunt competed in just the shorter of her two sprint events in Glasgow, with her priority being Birmingham, where she will be much busier.
That includes being part of the first ever mixed 4x100m relay at European level, a race that she believes can be “iconic”.
Working out her schedule is not always easy, but when it came to the chance to compete in Birmingham, it was a straightforward decision.
She said: “One of the great things about being a versatile sprinter is that I can compete over both the 100m and 200m. The downside is there are lots of opportunities, so sometimes it’s difficult to say no.
“Our No 1 priority is the European Championships. It’s the first time they’ve been held in the UK, so we’re aiming to compete in the full programme there: the 100m, 200m, women’s 4x100m and the new mixed 4x100m, because that would be really iconic.
“I’ll be doing everything, so you’ll probably be seeing a lot of me every day.”
Living in Italy, where she trains under Marco Airale in Padua, Hunt spends her downtime visiting nearby Venice each weekend.
That thirst for knowledge and culture is a throwback to her degree in English literature from the University of Cambridge, with Hunt keen to step outside of the athletics bubble when she can.
She added: “I’ve always said I’d like to do a master’s degree at some point. That hasn’t happened yet, partly because I now live in a country where I’m still not fluent in the language. But I’d definitely like to return to academia one day because I really enjoy it.
“I’m a human being before I’m an athlete. I want to experience the world, keep learning, grow intellectually, and be inspired by things outside my own little sporting bubble.
“I think it’s healthy to live as broad a life as possible. Athletes, particularly women, are increasingly showing that our lives can be much broader than just track. We can study, have careers alongside athletics and pursue different interests. Life is much bigger than the nine lanes out there.”
Finding that balance between athletics and the wider world is crucial for Hunt and will arguably be just as crucial in the long term as her balance while sprinting on the track at the Alexander Stadium over the next week.
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