Hunt takes third gold as Asher-Smith reaches championship milestone

Amy Hunt secured a third gold medal and Dina Asher-Smith added a landmark as Great Britain’s 4x100m relay teams triumphed at the European Championships in Birmingham on Saturday. Hunt’s third title came within six days and Asher-Smith increased her gold tally at the championships to seven.

Hunt had already won the 100m and 200m and will attempt to become the first athlete to win four medals at a single edition in the event’s 92-year history when the mixed 4x100m relay takes place on Sunday. Asher-Smith, 30, claimed her seventh gold here 10 years after her first and matched the gold tally held by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic. Following her 200m bronze on Thursday she also equalled Polish sprinter Irena Szewinska’s overall record of 10 championships medals.

Imani-Lara Lansiquot completed the job for the British women, who included 21-year-old student midwife Success Eduan, crossing the line in 42.05 seconds — more than a second clear of Switzerland. Amy Hunt was part of that quartet that delivered the hosts’ second gold of the meet in a dramatic finish to Saturday’s action. The win came inside Alexander Stadium in front of the home crowd.

Fifteen minutes earlier the men’s quartet secured gold, with 100m champion Romell Glave delivering a strong final leg to finish in 38.45 seconds. Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchliffe and then 200m silver medallist Zharnel Hughes led for much of the final and executed the baton exchanges to send Glave down the home straight. The victory drew huge cheers inside Alexander Stadium.

Asher-Smith is a world champion over 200m and the British record holder over both sprint distances and has amassed 22 senior international medals since making her debut in the women's 4x100m squad at the 2013 World Championships. She was the last athlete to achieve a sprint treble at the European Championships in 2018, 12 months before claiming individual global gold. There was a sense that Asher-Smith’s seamless baton changeover to Hunt was a symbolic moment in its wider context.

Hunt, 24 and a Cambridge University graduate, has progressed rapidly after an injury-disrupted start to her senior career and claimed a breakthrough first individual global medal with world silver in Tokyo last year. Monday’s 100m gold represented her first senior international title, she then held off Asher-Smith in the 200m, and by helping retain Britain’s relay title she has completed a treble at these championships.

Britain’s overall medal total rose to 12, including six golds, leaving the hosts in hot pursuit of table-topping Italy, who have won 17 medals, heading into the final day of competition; the mixed 4x100m relay on Sunday will offer Hunt the chance to attempt a four-medal haul and could provide Asher-Smith an opportunity to extend her championship record.