As Amy Hunt strives to be fastest woman in the world ex teammate backs her for Olympic gold

Britain's new golden girl is on a mission to be 'the fastest woman in the world'. Queen of the Track Amy Hunt is not only targeting Olympic Gold but also offering help to the young, gifted and talented.

The new poster girl of UK athletics took centre stage as she clinched a memorable double, winning the 100m and 200m at the European Championships in Birmingham. British Girl Power took the athletics world by storm as Dina Asher-Smith, 30, took bronze and Success Eduan, a 21-year-old midwifery student from Manchester, finished sixth.

Hunt, 24, goes for gold again in the women's 4x100m and mixed relays in a bid to make history as the first woman to win four European golds at a single championship.

She said: "Two out of four" after crossing the line and revealed that she had overcome low blood pressure which had left her feeling faint in recent 200m races. With 142,000 followers on Instagram, the 'professional fast girl' already has lucrative marketing deals with the likes of Nike and is certain to have sponsors rushing to her door. Her ambition is Olympic Gold.

There has never been a British womens 100m or 200m Olympic champion in events that have been dominated for almost 50 years by sprinters from the United States and Jamaica. It has been a story of triumph over adversity for Amy.

She overcame an injury crisis in February 2022 when she ruptured the thigh muscle running from the hip to the knee. She moved back into the family home in Newark, Notts., with her devoted parents Claire and Peter. Claire cooked her meals, and helped her in and out of the shower.

She says the best part of her success has been paying them back for all the times that they ferried her to early competitions and training. The scar from the injury is a constant reminder of how lucky she is to be fit and competing. She wakes up every day 'thinking about winning Olympic gold'.

The Cambridge graduate combined English literature with sprint and weight training while still at university. A typical day started with Chaucer and ended with a two-hour drive to Loughborough University for gruelling speed work.

She achieved a 2:1 from Corpus Christi College in 2023, despite her injury problems. Afterwards, she vowed to help other young athletes who wanted to be 'an academic badass and a track goddess' like her.

"Life is amazing at the moment, I am just living my dream and I am so grateful to be able to do it," Amy, who is based in Padua, Italy, said. "I am so lucky to live in a different country at 24 and experience all of these things. Loving what I do really comes through. Confidence is such a big part of that. If I am standing on the start line and I do not believe that I can win, then what am I doing there? In every single race, I have to believe that I can do it."

She continued: "It is not cocky, but I have to believe in my own success and create a mythology around my own success. It is what you have to do to win. I think for me it was about learning to love the gym a lot more, and I have got to love it now.

"I love going into training every day. I want to be the fastest woman in the world, I want to win Olympic golds and I want to achieve those heights. That is not something I am afraid to say because I am not shy about it and I think it is possible for me."

Amy's close friend Asha Philip, 35, the fellow Team GB sprint star who has just retired from athletics, met Amy and her parents after her 200m triumph on Thursday night and spoke with Amy again today. Asha, a two-time Olympic medallist, told the Mirror: "She was a bit tired and in tears after the race when she saw her mum and dad. She trains abroad so it was a real family moment."

She continued: "A lot of hard work went into those medals as she competed in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games before Birmingham. She has the attitude that you have to adopt at the very top. We are used to the Americans being very confident and backing themselves.

"Usain Bolt did it and even Mo Farah with the MoBot. But the British generally tend to be more nonchalant. Amy backs herself. I do believe that she can win Olympic Gold."

Asha joked: "I have passed her the relay baton a few times but she is so much taller than me, my face is level with her hand on the changeover.

"I was a mentor when she first came into Team GB and we have stayed close. We have had so many female athletes going through university studies. First Amy at Cambridge, and now Success, who is doing 12 hours shifts as a midwifery student delivering babies. They are superwomen. I applaud them for all the work they have to do to achieve that."

Track legend Sir Brendan Foster, 78, 'loves' the confidence of Hunt and the new generation of female British runners. In the age of Coe, Ovett, Cram and myself, you would tell your coach you were going to win, but you would not say that publicly," he told the Mirror. You would not dare tell anybody else. That has all changed now, there is a change of attitude, and I love it. They not only say they are going to do it, they deliver on the track. That is the Amy Hunt story."

Mark Brian, Director of Sport at the University of Cambridge Sports Service, was "particularly interested" to hear about Amy's desire to support other athletes studying at Cambridge. "Having successful alumni who have experienced both the challenges of Cambridge and the demands of elite sport can be incredibly valuable for current students," he said.

"Positive role models help demonstrate what is possible and can provide inspiration, practical advice, and mentorship. We would welcome the opportunity to re-engage with Amy and explore how she might support future generations of Cambridge student-athletes in a meaningful way."

Watched by 20,082 fans, the biggest crowd at the European Athletics Championships so far, Amy crossed the 200m finishing line in 22.19 seconds, nine hundredths of a second quicker than Irish silver medallist Rhasidat Adelekes new national record and one tenth ahead of Asher-Smith.

Amy, who won the 100m on Monday, yelled Are you not entertained? at the camera a reference to the Russell Crowe epic film Gladiator. Speaking after the race, she said: It means so much. This year has not been that easy and to do such an iconic thing in Birmingham, as close to my home as Im ever going to get To handle all the pressure, to be able to showcase all the work Ive done, all the work my coaching staff, my family, everything that everyone has put into me this medal is for everyone.

Dina said: I would much rather have had a different colour, but any medal is a medal, isnt it? I think thats my ninth European medal in my career. It says a lot to come back year-on-year and perform, and to be one of the fastest women in the world, whatever is going on in your life and still being there, Im happy with that. To round off a memorable week for British female athletes, Dina could become the most decorated athlete in European Championships history if she medals in both relays. The current record belongs to Polands Irena Szewinska, who won 10 medals between 1966 and 1978.

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