{"id":258292,"date":"2026-08-17T14:15:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/champagne-and-a-kfc-how-hunt-celebrated-historic-haul-at-european-championships\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:15:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:15:53","slug":"champagne-and-a-kfc-how-hunt-celebrated-historic-haul-at-european-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/champagne-and-a-kfc-how-hunt-celebrated-historic-haul-at-european-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Champagne and a KFC\u2019: how Hunt celebrated historic haul at European Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

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L<\/span>ong before Amy Hunt catapulted herself into the mainstream by winning an unprecedented four gold medals<\/a> at the European Championships, she was remarkably upfront about her ambitions. There was no coyness. No equivocation. She wanted the quadruple in Birmingham. And having talked a good game, she delivered.<\/p>\n

She celebrated her final golden night in Birmingham with a glass of champagne and a KFC, as well as a 2am massage to ensure her legs would be fresh for her next race in Lausanne on Friday. It meant going to bed at 4am. But despite being on four hours sleep on Monday morning, she is sharp as a tack as she explains why being bold is good for her \u2013 and her sport.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSometimes people are a bit afraid of voicing their ambitions,\u201d Hunt says. \u201cBut life is short. Why not be ambitious? We\u2019re all thinking these things, so why not just say them out loud?<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are attracted to that no-facade, full-confidence, full-throttle way of speaking. It\u2019s something we have in other sports. If you\u2019re going into a Wimbledon final, it\u2019s obviously clear that you want to win.<\/p>\n

And, Hunt believes, it also helps her when it comes to the crunch in races too. \u201cEspecially in the sprints, you have to be so utterly confident on that start line. It\u2019s like nothing else on this planet. I\u2019m trying to get from A to B as fast as humanly possible, and it\u2019s so simple yet complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be so utterly convinced of myself, my own power, my own strength, my own speed, and my own methodology, in a sense, to be able to make that all kind of come together as one,\u201d she adds. \u201cBecause it is such a mental game. And just having that edge of confidence of 1 or 2% matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunt is a very modern British sports star, equally comfortable talking about studying Chaucer and the Material Renaissance at Cambridge on Radio 4\u2019s Woman\u2019s Hour, as she did on Monday, as she is posting a video on Instagram of her twirling with her four gold medals to the sound of Abba\u2019s Winner Takes It All.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a glass of champagne and a KFC and it was amazing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was one of the best tasting KFCs I\u2019ve had in my life. Then we went and had a massage at 2am, and then I got into bed finally at 4am with a not-packed suitcase.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Amy Hunt crosses the line to win her fourth gold on Sunday.<\/span> Photograph: Martin Rickett\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advertisers talk about how the biggest stars are able to appeal to all four quadrants \u2013 young and old, men and women. And after her four European golds, Hunt is closing in on being a four-quadrant star.<\/p>\n

She is smart but normal, exceptionally talented but down to earth. And she does the numbers too. When Hunt won her first gold medal over 100m last Monday, two million people watched on the BBC. On Sunday, when she completed the quadruple 4.2 million were tuned in. She says her number of social media followers has doubled in a week too.<\/p>\n

And how appropriate is it that someone who has a passion for the Renaissance has been so instrumental to the rebirth of track and field in Britain? \u201cWe\u2019ve seen from these Champs that the public really love track and field,\u201d Hunt says. \u201cAthletics is coming back with a bit of swagger.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that swagger carries a lot of self-awareness too. After she won her third gold medal in the women\u2019s 4x100m relay, the first thing she did was praise her teammates. Dina Asher-Smith was hailed for breaking the record for European Championships medals. Success Eduan was praised for being a midwife as well as a top sprinter. And Hunt also marvelled at how Imani-Lara Lansiquot had written an acclaimed play, Armour of Gaza, about growing up in Peckham.<\/p>\n

Hunt knows she is now about to experience a whole new level of fame. But there is a caveat \u2013 living in Padua, in northern Italy, means she will escape the worst excesses of the tabloids.<\/p>\n

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