The 2025 Novuna British Athletics Championships : Sprint finish, by Stuart Weir
Traditionally, day one of the British Championships ends with the two 100-meter finals. Athletes are running to become British champions, to earn selection for the World Championships in the blue-riband event, and also to secure a place in the relay teams that are expected to win world championship medals. A swirling wind blew throughout the day. In successive prelims, the wind gauge was showing -2 in one and +1.3 in the following, significant differences when you were looking for a qualifying time judged in fractions of a second.
The women’s race came first. Remember that the British selection procedure is that the first two finishers (provided they have the World Athletics standard) are selected for the World Championships, with a third place at the discretion of the selectors. Dina Asher-Smith had opted only to run the 200 at trials, banking on receiving the discretionary third selection place.
The women went to their blocks amid high drama; there was a recall. After consultation, the starter announced, “Disqualify the athlete in lane 6” – Darryl Neita, who finished 4th and 5th in the Paris Olympic sprints!
The result was: 1 Amy Hunt 11.02 PR2 Desiree Henry 11.323 Faith Akinbileje 11.34
Amy Hunt, who is simply one of the nicest people in our sport, said afterwards: “We wanted to view this Championships as another step in the road to Tokyo. I am happy to get my first senior outdoor UK title and book that plane ticket. In championships, you have to move forward day by day, so you must learn how to step up and process things quickly. This is why we did a lot of 60s in the winter. The 1960s were a crazy time for many things that were happening. I reached the world indoor final and came fifth, which taught me a lot about holding my nerve under pressure. In today’s final, I got a slick start first time around. It wasn’t as good after the false start, but I had to stay calm”.
As things stand, Amy Hunt has qualified for the Tokyo…
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