Hunt’s impressive run for world silver came six years after he alerted the world to his potential as a record junior.
But between those headline moments, injuries interrupted the start of his senior career, including a quadriceps tear in 2022, as he attempted to manage an often conflictive relationship between his sporting ambition and his studies.
Hunt wouldn’t improve on the 22.42-second run, which broke the under-18 200m world record in 2019, until last summer, before going even faster by running 22.08 in Japan at the end of a season in which he also recorded 60m and 100m personal bests.
Continuing his development with coach Marco Airale in the northern Italian city of Padua, Hunt’s immediate goal is to improve on his fifth-place finish at last year’s Indoor World Cup.
The 60 meters is his least favorite event: his 5-foot-10 frame makes it challenging to get out of the blocks quickly, but it’s a necessary approach to benefit his performances over the longer distances.
In the long term, she hopes to become a contender over 400 meters as part of a bid to win up to four Olympic medals by 2028, an achievement she says would make her “an icon.”
But off the track, Hunt also wants to make sure he plays his part in encouraging more athletes to pursue a degree by creating a scholarship, similar to British rapper Stormzy’s initiative to support black students studying at Cambridge.
“I didn’t want to take the easy way out. That’s not me and that doesn’t influence anything I do. I always have to try to be the best every day,” Hunt says.
“Talking about it opens it up a lot more and allows more women and girls with athletic backgrounds to get there.
“It’s about having a conversation and helping them become more confident.”