Latest news with #AmberAnning
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Amber Anning: ‘Gold is always the goal. Get to the final and then whatever happens, happens'
'That was quite tough to take,' says Amber Anning, thinking back to the selection process for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She finished eighth – 'dead last' – in the 400m at the British championships and was the only woman in the relay pool not to go to the Games. 'But Tokyo's always been on my list, even outside of track. The blossom trees are something I've always wanted to go see.' For this weekend's British trials in Birmingham, where spots for September's world championships in the Japanese capital are up for grabs, Anning is the favourite and defending champion, not to mention the world indoor title holder. 'It comes with a little pressure but nothing I'm not used to,' says the 24-year-old who, having been based in the US since 2020, is itching to race in front of a home crowd – 'the best track-and-field supporters in the world'. Anning did not compete in this month's London Diamond League – her event was not included – but she was one of more than 100 British athletes to sign a letter asking the UK government to back the bid to host the world outdoors in 2029, which was taken up by the prime minister, Keir Starmer. When London last hosted, in 2017, a teenage Anning was in the stands, as well as at the Olympics. 'London 2012 was particularly special for me,' she says. 'That solidified my mindset that I want to be an Olympian.' That came to fruition in Paris last year when she came fifth in the 400m final, three-tenths of a second off a medal, before picking up two bronzes in the relays. When it comes to Tokyo, her first crack at an individual world outdoor title, Anning has tunnel vision: 'The gold is always the goal. We get to that final and then whatever happens, happens. Me and coach [Chris Johnson] are very aligned in my goals. I've written these down from the beginning of the year. I sat in his office and said: 'Look, these are the times I want to run this year, these are the medals I want to get. And, like, let's go. I'm trusting you to get me there.'' Christine Ohuruogu is her idol and mentor. The pair have been in regular contact during Anning's first couple of years on the professional circuit. 'I want to achieve what she achieved,' she says of the former Olympic and two-time world champion. 'We have so many connections.' Perhaps the strongest of those is the coach Lloyd Cowan, who died aged 58 in 2021 due to complications from Covid. 'He was such a charismatic man, just so caring, so loving,' says Anning, who worked with Cowan from the age of 16. 'It was a hard pill to take, particularly being in America and not being able to go to his funeral. It took me a long time to recover.' Anning's mother, Melanie, is a founding trustee of the Lloyd Cowan Bursary, which provides funding for young athletes and coaches, and into which Amber is able to contribute through her contract with Nike. 'It's in honour of him and all his work,' she says. Anning's parents were supportive of her decision to join the collegiate system in the US, where she has competed for Louisiana State and Arkansas, where she is still based. The former Brighton and Hove AC junior talks of needing to leave her comfort zone and expand her horizons but underpinning it all is an ambition to reach the top. 'I think I wanted to be the best of the best and I want to be the best in the world – and the times that America are running are world class. I knew it was going to take time, going from being a big fish to a small fish over there.' Indoor tracks are very much a feature of the collegiate system, giving Anning an edge going into the European championships in March of this year. Her disqualification for a lane infringement in the heats was 'heartbreaking' and 'a shock to the system', but it prompted her to decide with her coach to go to the world indoors in China two weeks later. 'The aim was never really to go to worlds,' she says. 'I had set my sights on Europeans and coming back and prepping for the outdoor season.' In pipping Alexis Holmes on the line in Nanjing, Anning became the first British woman to win an individual world indoor sprint title. 'It was a really great experience,' she says. 'It made me trust a lot about the programme of coaching, how we're moving in the right direction for outdoors.' And outdoors is where it's at. The additions of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track – despite its financial difficulties – and the all-female Athlos League set up by Alexis Ohanian, the husband of Serena Williams, to the calendar are welcome. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Anning talks of the importance of building momentum, using all available means to raise profiles. 'We had people running with cameras while we were warming up to get our content,' she says of May's Grand Slam meeting in Miami. 'It's what people want to see. They don't want to see just the bog standard track-and-field scenario. They want to see more personality.' Alongside her training in the US, Anning completed a degree in advertising and PR – 'as an athlete, branding is everything' – and a minor in psychology. 'I actually originally wanted to come and do neuroscience,' she says. 'I've always loved how the brain works and understanding it on a deeper level.' She has read mindset books but right now is hooked on fantasy – 'dragons and fighting and kingdoms and all of that'. Anning plans to take a few books with her to Tokyo, where the main focus will be a first individual medal outdoors. There is no hiding her excitement for the relays, though, with the team spirit fostered in her time on the England netball pathway shining through. But before all that, there is a job to be done this weekend in Birmingham.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Amber Anning interview: The letter that inspired me to become world champion
Last month, in emotional scenes inside China's Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Amber Anning stood on top of the podium after a coming-of-age performance to win 400-metre gold at the World Indoor Championships. Her stunning triumph marked a number of firsts. It was Anning's first international title, in her first professional season after years grafting away on the American college scene, and she was Britain's first-ever female winner in the event. The stars had truly aligned. Two weeks earlier, Anning's confidence had been shredded after she was disqualified from the heats at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn for a lane infringement. Determined to avoid a repeat in Nanjing, she calmly recited a letter to herself before warming up. 'It was basically what I would say to the 'old Amber' and what I would say to her now,' says Anning. 'I wrote about all the sacrifices I'd made, all the events I'd missed socially, moving over to America and not wanting to feel disappointment after all the hard work I'd put in, wanting to hear the national anthem standing on the podium and going out to get what's mine. 'I wrote it at the Europeans but took the letter to the worlds and every time I read it, it put a smile on my face. It just reminded me that I had come so far and that I could go out there and achieve what I wanted to.' SHE'S DONE IT! 🥇 Great Britain's Amber Anning has won Women's 400m gold in dramatic style in Nanjing! #BBCAthletics #WorldIndoorChamps — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 22, 2025 Anning is speaking to Telegraph Sport from her United States training base in Arkansas, where she has returned to ready herself for the outdoor season. Unlike most emerging British talent, she made the bold decision to leave her Brighton-based family, aged 19, to make a track career for herself in the US. When she arrived at Louisiana State University on a scholarship in 2020, she was a small fish in a very big pond and began rubbing shoulders with some of the best 400m specialists in the world. Anning initially struggled to grapple with the huge cultural shock, before body-image insecurities struck. She quickly came across what it meant to be labelled 'Freshman 15' – the term is used to describe so-called weight-gain among college athletes in their first year, when they may put on up to 15 pounds. 'I wasn't running very fast and I was struggling with weight,' reflects Anning. 'The portions over here are really big and sometimes there'd be some points where I'd see myself in the mirror and just struggled with my look. 'I came to America looking really lean and really toned. When you're 18, 19, you're not developed as much in terms of lifting. During my first year, when I came back for Christmas, I don't think my parents even recognised me. 'A lot of comments were going around. I remember the team, some girls made comments that I was fat and overweight. It was mentally hard. When you're underperforming as well you've got all this stuff going on.' In her award-winning memoir Good For A Girl, Lauren Fleshman, a former middle-distance national champion, painted her own damning experience of the American college system as one severely lacking in female coaches needed to promote healthy practices. 'It can be hard to be a female sometimes,' says Anning. 'We deal with a lot, and it's about making sure that you have people around you who understand when you're on your period, you're not maybe going to be the best, like some people's are heavier than others.' Anning, though, insists her formative years in the States have been 'pretty positive' and insists the cut-throat nature of her training environments is inherently tied to her success on the track. At her maiden Olympics in Paris last year, she collected a pair of relay bronzes and finished a respectable fifth in the women's 400m final, but her career might have veered in a completely different direction after she experienced devastating loss as a teenager. The sudden passing of Anning's childhood coach, Lloyd Cowan, the esteemed trainer who masterminded Christine Ohuruogu's 2008 Olympic success in Beijing, turned Anning's world upside down. Cowan coached Anning as a junior and such was the profound influence the former Commonwealth sprint hurdler had on her career that Anning's mother helped set up the Lloyd Cowan Bursary as a way to honour his legacy after his unexpected death in 2021, which was believed to be related to Covid-19 complications. The initiative supports athletes who lack the financial means to stay in the sport. 'I was devastated,' says Anning. 'I was in a lot of disbelief. Lloyd was just such a figure and role model to me and someone who I thought would be here on this journey with me today, especially seeing what he'd done with Christine Ohuruogu. 'Those first two years [after his passing] I'd get teary even talking about it because he had such a profound impact on me. He was just such a charismatic man who had so much love and joy. At the worlds, on the podium, I was thinking, 'Lloyd, we got there! We can tick something off our list.'' How proud he would have been of his diligent pupil, who will not be parting with her lucky letter any time soon. 'It's staying in my backpack for now,' smiles Anning.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Amber Anning makes British history to win 400m gold at World Athletics Indoor Championships
Amber Anning stormed to 400 metres gold to claim her first senior individual international medal on the second day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China. The British record holder, who collected a pair of relay bronzes at last summer's Paris Olympics, crossed the line in 50.60 seconds to pip the United States' Alexis Holmes by three hundredths of a second, while Norway's Henriette Jaeger took bronze. It was redemption for the 24-year-old, who was disqualified from the same event due to a lane infringement at the European Indoor Championships earlier this month. "It feels amazing," said Anning, who became the first British woman to win an individual world indoor sprint title. "I came here wanting the win after the disappointment of the Europeans. I wanted the gold and I'm grateful that I was able to get the job done and bring a medal back to the home city. "I knew with the calibre of girls in this race it was going to be close, especially to get that break. But I stayed strong, I had faith in myself, and I got to the end and I fought for that line." Amy Hunt, who claimed 4x100m relay silver in Paris, was delighted by her fifth-place finish in the women's 60m after qualifying for her maiden senior individual world final. Hunt improved on the morning's semis by running 7.11secs in the final, and said: "I can't believe I'm fifth in the world in an event that nobody thinks I can do apart from me and my coach! "That was one of the most fun races I have ever done in my life and at the end of the day that's what it is all about. I was smiling at the start line, I was stood next to the world champion and I nearly had them. A few inches off, a couple more metres I would have got them." There was disappointment for pole vaulter Molly Caudery, who was unable to defend her title from Glasgow 2024 in a competition plagued by technical issues. Caudery, who has experienced an injury-hampered start to her season, finished fourth. She said: "It was definitely not what I wanted but I am disappointed to say the least. It was a really, really, tough competition and there were a lot of technical issues, but I don't want to put any excuses out. "If there is an hour wait in the middle of the competition when it's getting to those medal bars - the really important bars - it shouldn't be happening at a competition like this. The girls did struggle with that - as did I - it ruins the flow and even I know we were all deflated after, but that's championships for you." More medals are up for grabs on Sunday's final day of competition. Debutant Funminiyi Olajide is in the women's long jump before Scott Lincoln appears in the shot put. Scotland's Neil Gourley goes for gold in the men's 1500m final and Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell is in the women's final of the same distance.
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
GB's Amber Anning makes history with 400m gold at world indoors
Amber Anning stormed to 400m gold to claim her first senior individual international medal on the second day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China. The British record holder, who collected a pair of relay bronzes at last summer's Paris Olympics, crossed the line in 50.60sec to pip the United States' Alexis Holmes by three hundredths of a second, while Norway's Henriette Jaeger took bronze. It was redemption for the 24-year-old Anning, who was disqualified from the same event due to a lane infringement at this month's European Indoor Championships. 'It feels amazing,' said Anning, who became the first British woman to win an individual world indoor sprint title. 'I came here wanting the win after the disappointment of the Europeans. I wanted the gold and I'm grateful that I was able to get the job done and bring a medal back to the home city. 'I knew with the calibre of girls in this race it was going to be close, especially to get that break. But I stayed strong, I had faith in myself, and I got to the end and I fought for that line.' Amy Hunt, who claimed 4x100m relay silver in Paris, was delighted by her fifth-place finish in the women's 60 metres after qualifying for her maiden senior individual world final. She improved on the morning's semis by running 7.11secs in the final, and said: 'I can't believe I'm fifth in the world in an event that nobody thinks I can do apart from me and my coach! 'That was one of the most fun races I have ever done in my life and at the end of the day that's what it is all about. I was smiling at the start line, I was stood next to the world champion and I nearly had them. A few inches off, a couple more metres I would have got them.' There was disappointment for the pole vaulter Molly Caudery, who was unable to defend her title from Glasgow 2024 in a competition plagued by technical issues. The 25-year-old, who has experienced an injury-hampered start to her season, finished fourth. She said: 'It was definitely not what I wanted but I am disappointed to say the least. It was a really, really, tough competition and there were a lot of technical issues, but I don't want to put any excuses out. 'If there is an hour wait in the middle of the competition when it's getting to those medal bars – the really important bars – it shouldn't be happening at a competition like this. The girls did struggle with that – as did I – it ruins the flow and even I know we were all deflated after, but that's championships for you.' There are more British medal hopes on Sunday's final day of competition. The debutant Funminiyi Olajide is in the women's long jump before Scott Lincoln appears in the shot put. Scotland's Neil Gourley goes for gold in the men's 1500 metres final and the Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell is in the women's final of the same distance. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Sweden's Armand Duplantis won a third consecutive pole vault title with a leap of 6.15m and the American Grant Holloway cruised to the 60m hurdles crown. Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji denied the pre-race favourite, Zaynab Dosso of Italy, to win her second world indoor title in the marquee women's 60m sprint in 7.04sec. Dosso had dominated the heats but could not summon up her best effort when it mattered and had to settle for silver in 7.06, with Patrizia van der Weken of Luxembourg grabbing bronze. Duplantis was the overwhelming favourite after soaring to 6.27m and breaking the world mark for an 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last month, and at Nanjing's Cube the 25-year-old completed a century of jumps over six metres. The twice Olympic champion comfortably scaled 6.05m for the 100th vault over 6.00m and despite a rare blip in his first try at 6.10m, he joined Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie as a triple world indoors champion.
The Independent
22-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Amber Anning's golden performance makes history at World Indoor Championships
Amber Anning stormed to 400 metres gold to claim her first senior individual international medal on the second day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China. The British record holder, who collected a pair of relay bronzes at last summer's Paris Olympics, crossed the line in 50.60 seconds to pip the United States' Alexis Holmes by three hundredths of a second, while Norway's Henriette Jaeger took bronze. It was redemption for the 24-year-old, who was disqualified from the same event due to a lane infringement at the European Indoor Championships earlier this month. "It feels amazing," said Anning, who became the first British woman to win an individual world indoor sprint title. "I came here wanting the win after the disappointment of the Europeans. I wanted the gold and I'm grateful that I was able to get the job done and bring a medal back to the home city. "I knew with the calibre of girls in this race it was going to be close, especially to get that break. But I stayed strong, I had faith in myself, and I got to the end and I fought for that line." Amy Hunt, who claimed 4x100 metres relay silver in Paris, was delighted by her fifth-place finish in the women's 60 metres after qualifying for her maiden senior individual world final. Hunt improved on the morning's semis by running 7.11secs in the final, and said: "I can't believe I'm fifth in the world in an event that nobody thinks I can do apart from me and my coach! "That was one of the most fun races I have ever done in my life and at the end of the day that's what it is all about. I was smiling at the start line, I was stood next to the world champion and I nearly had them. A few inches off, a couple more metres I would have got them." There was disappointment for pole vaulter Molly Caudery, who was unable to defend her title from Glasgow 2024 in a competition plagued by technical issues. Caudery, who has experienced an injury-hampered start to her season, finished fourth. She said: "It was definitely not what I wanted but I am disappointed to say the least. It was a really, really, tough competition and there were a lot of technical issues, but I don't want to put any excuses out. "If there is an hour wait in the middle of the competition when it's getting to those medal bars - the really important bars - it shouldn't be happening at a competition like this. The girls did struggle with that - as did I - it ruins the flow and even I know we were all deflated after, but that's championships for you." More medals are up for grabs on Sunday's final day of competition. Debutant Funminiyi Olajide is in the women's long jump before Scott Lincoln appears in the shot put. Scotland's Neil Gourley goes for gold in the men's 1500 metres final and Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell is in the women's final of the same distance.
