S
Stuart Weir
Guest
Amy Hunt won the 100m
Amy Hunt staked her claim to be the GB number 1 women’s sprinter in the UK! In some events, the standard is no more than average, events in which the UK would struggle to find one athlete who could challenge for the podium at the US trials. Other events are world-class. The women’s 100 meters is very much in that category. Dina Asher-Smith is a former world champion but now the wrong side of 30. Dina has relocated from the USA back to Britain and then back to the USA to link up with a different American coach. Amy took the silver medal in the 200 in Tokyo last year. Her coaching situation is stable; she has been in Italy with Marco Airale for about 3 years. Amy is 24 and improving all the time.
Their personalities are different, too. Dina’s comments to the media are very circumspect – at times as if she is reading a prepared statement! Amy speaks much more from the heart. I remember once doing an interview with Amy. She told me she could only give me 20 minutes. After 35, I asked if she was still OK for the time. She replied that it was fine and that she was enjoying talking to me.
Amy loves to compete. She went to five indoor meets this year. Outdoors, she has run in the USA and 5 Diamond Leagues in 2026. In Stockholm, she went sub-11 for the first time and repeated it (windy) in Oslo the same week.
The W 100 meters, Novuna UK Athletics, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
In the semi-finals at the GB Champs, Amy won one semi in 11.27, Dina won another in 11.28 – each one doing just what is necessary. In the final, Dina got a great start and a significant lead – but Amy ran her down.
1 Amy Hunt 11.01
2 Dina Asher-Smith 11.13
It somehow looked like a race to be won more than a race in which to chase a fast time.
Amy said afterward, “It shows our national championships are the best in the world. We have the best fans and the best athletes currently competing. Dina is one of the quickest on the circuit, so I know that when I come here, I have to bring my A-game. It’s been a really good one to get the victory today. I don’t feel too much pressure in my mind. I have so much fun when I run, I truly love it. I can’t express to people how much joy it brings me. Running and running fast is 10/10 for me”.
Dina Asher-Smith, silver, 100 meters, June 20, 2026, photo by Getty Images for British Athletics
Dina commented: “I’m really happy with 11.1 today. It has been a strange few weeks for me, so I am happy to have run a solid race and posted a solid time. It has shown me what I need to sharpen up on, but I am really happy. It’s all coming together. I am happy, I am healthy, and I am in a great mental state to compete. Sometimes you’ve just got to trust the process and stick with it. Most importantly, when you come out here to perform, and it doesn’t necessarily go your way or the way you want it to, you have to be able to see what you need to work on. So, I am happy to have seen that, and I am excited to go away and work on it”. Four times Dina says she was happy, as Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”.
Amy is flying, with the 200 still to come.
In the men’s 100, Rommel Glave 9.98 was the surprise winner with Zharnel Hughes second in 10.01