Amy Hunt is working on her speed in more ways than one
After a successful year in sprints competitions, Amy Hunt is back in the gym and on the track this winter training hard for next summer’s Olympic trials. But as a fresher at the University of Cambridge, the 18-year-old is also working hard to become faster at reading in order to keep up with the sizeable list of books her English degree course requires.
“My reading speed has increased a lot in the last two months,” she says. “It has to in order to keep up with things as there’s a new essay every single week. That kind of turnover really keeps you on your toes.”
On the track her speed is not in question. This year she won the British indoor 60m title before taking bronze in the 100m at the British outdoor champs in September. She also experienced her first Diamond League with sixth place in Doha.
But when it comes to reading, is she quick or slow?
“It depends if it’s stuff that I like!” she says. “Things I’ve struggled on so far are things like Middlemarch, which I didn’t enjoy that much. But things like postmodernism I can get through really quickly because I’m quite into it.”
Like most students, too, Hunt has had to adapt to the unusual conditions brought on by coronavirus. This means she has relocated briefly during the current English lockdown to Loughborough so she can train at the track and gym there while continuing with her Cambridge studies online.
She does not regret choosing to study at Cambridge, though, and is looking forward to returning to the city soon.
“I’m missing the access to libraries, the friends I’ve made, the lovely city itself and my little flat that I have there,” she says.
(Photograph by Mark Shearman)
» See the December issue of AW magazine for a feature on Amy Hunt
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