Amy Hunt won a superb silver medal with a coming-of-age performance in the 200m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The Briton had qualified third-quickest in a personal best time, and upgraded that to a brilliant silver as she held off defending champion Shericka Jackson by four-hundredths of a second.
The Jamaican was forced to settle for bronze behind Hunt and American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who became only the fourth woman in history to complete the 100m-200m double at a world championships.
Hunt screamed when she saw the result and burst into tears, heading to celebrate with family after winning Britain’s second medal of the championships, after Jake Wightman’s silver in the men’s 1500m.
She crossed the line in 22.14 seconds, with Jefferson-Wooden clear of her chasers in 21.68s. Britain’s other finalist Dina Asher-Smith came fifth.
The race required a restart after the Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan, appearing with heavy strapping after pulling up in the semi-finals, was disqualified for a false start.
A beaming Hunt told BBC Sport: “I have not stopped smiling or crying! 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. I just beat some amazing girls and I can’t believe it.
“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.”
Asher-Smith was fastest out of the blocks in 0.147s and in bronze medal position at the halfway point behind Jefferson-Wooden and Jackson before Hunt found another gear.
Hunt was part of GB’s bronze medal-winning squad in the 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympics last year and had demonstrated her potential as a junior, setting an under-18 200m world record in 2019.
But this was her maiden individual podium and an emphatic way to announce herself on the world stage.
The 23-year-old admitted before these championships she had fallen into quite “a few years of huge obscurity” after deciding to complete her English degree at Cambridge and recovering from major injury and surgery.
In her post-race interview she spoke of her hopes of showing young athletes that it is possible to juggle a sporting career alongside academic excellence – in her words, being an “academic badass and athletic goddess” – saying: “I am showing you can do anything, if you set your mind to you can be the best at anything.”
Asher-Smith was thrilled for Hunt but a little disappointed with her race.
“Amy did incredibly, bless her,” she told the BBC. “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.”
Additional reporting by PA
