Amy Hunt endures reality check in Diamond League 100m
Amy Hunt endures reality check in Diamond League 100m
Sonia TwiggThu, August 27, 2026 at 9:18 PM UTC
0
Julien Alfred (centre), crosses the finish line ahead of Amy Hunt (left) and Sha’Carri Richardson - Jean-Christophe Bott/AP
Amy Hunt might have made history at the European Championships, but performing in a Diamond League field containing the world’s best was always going to be a different matter entirely.
In Zurich the race came down to a battle of two title-holders. Olympic champion Julien Alfred edged the race against world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden by five thousandths of a second as the pair established themselves as a class above the rest.
Sha’Carri Richardson finished third with a time of 10.97sec, while Hunt finished fifth in 11.04.
Alfred clocked a time of 10.70sec ahead of third-placed Sha’Carri Richardson and second-placed Melissa Jefferson-Wooden - Stefan Wermuth/Getty Images
Hunt said after the race, reported by BBC Sport: “I was coming in here and not thinking too much about the time. It was more about a process thing and it was such a competitive line-up.
“I just wanted to make a good show of myself, equip myself well and to come fifth in that line-up – I think I had the slowest season’s best coming in and obviously very, very tired legs – I’m really, really happy with that.”
Before the race, Hunt had said she was “so excited to be in a position to race against some of the greatest ladies of all time,” and there is no denying the benefit of that opportunity.
She might have been able to finish second in the 200m in Lausanne, but the 100m field in Switzerland was stacked with talent.
In Birmingham, Hunt became the first athlete to win four gold medals in a single edition of the European Championships with both the 100m, 200m, women’s 4x100m relay and mixed 4x100m relay.
Advertisement
Hunt said she was ‘really, really happy’ with her fifth-place finish - Jean-Christophe Bott/AP
Although she might not have been in the best shape after those Championships, admitting that before the 200m she was “pretty stiff” in the pre-meet.
Before the World Championships next year in Beijing, she will be even clearer of the times needed to compete and, as she said in her own words, “really aim for the stars”.
The women’s 800m field was depleted when Keely Hodgkinson withdrew saying her body was “not quite ready” but Georgia Hunter Bell finished third with a season’s best time of 1min 55.03sec.
Georgia Hunter Bell and Australia’s Jessica Hull (right) speak after competing in the women’s 800m - Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images
Hunter Bell won her third major gold of the year in the 1500 metres in Birmingham where she chose to prioritise the slightly longer distance over the 800m.
However, the depleted field only allowed Audrey Werro to continue her season of dominance in front of a home crowd.
Werro is the only runner to have run under 1min 54sec this year, and she did so again with a personal best 1:53.70, edging closer to the longest unbroken world record in athletics.
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro stormed to 800m victory in front of her home crowd - Jean-Christophe Bott/Shutterstock
In 1983, Jarmila Kratochvilova set the time of 1min 53.28 seconds, with Werro’s latest effort just 0.42 seconds shy.
It was a night for the world record books, with two entries set, although Armand Duplantis failed to set another one with three failed attempts at 6.32m.
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos broke the 400m hurdle record set in 2021 with a time of 45.80sec, as he finished far ahead of the rest of the field. In the women’s 100m hurdles, American Masai Russell claimed the race in 12.09sec, beating the previous one of 12.12 set in 2022.
Source: “AOL Sports”
