The European Athletics Championships are being held in Great Britain & NI for the first time, with home stars Matthew Hudson-Smith and Amy Hunt looking forward to soaking up the spotlight as they hunt for gold.
Not only are these championships special for Hudson-Smith because they are in the UK, but they are extra special because the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham is where he began his athletics journey and it has seen him grow into the athlete he is today.
Now he returns from his base in Florida as the European record-holder looking to reclaim his title that he won in 2018 and 2022 after also establishing himself as the fastest in Europe this year, but his homecoming has also brought many memories with it.
There is also a new addition to the Alexander Stadium for these championships - the Matthew Hudson-Smith stand which is around the final bend of the 400m.
On competing in front of a home crowd…
At the Commonwealth Games in 2022, I went out like a bat of hell. It was literally right after the World Championships when I got my first medal and I got the hairdryer treatment from my coach because he was like, 'you've been training for a certain time and you go through 20-point in the first 200. What are you doing?' I'm not going to say what he really said, but you can kind of figure it out.
Now I'm a little bit older, I've gone through that experience now so the emotions are a little bit more controlled. Whereas in 2022, generally I was falling off a little bit every time we stepped onto the track, now I know what to expect and the noise will be a bit crazy, but I've been there, done it.”
On describing Birmingham…
“For me, we're a quirky city, very quirky. I think we get the brunt of the jokes from the Londoners, and I would say Londoners hate us probably because we took their girls. We're a strong community. We've got the best food, I'll fight anybody who wants to say otherwise. We have the best curry and fish and chips in the whole country. It's a big city, but it's so close knit.
"I love being home, when I am home, I'm out from eight to eight, so they've literally locked me in my room, I'm not out or anything, but we're strong-knit, hard-working, quirky, good food, good vibes, a lot of alcohol. Honestly, it's the place of dreams, if you know the right people, you'll have a great time.”
On growing up at the Alexander Stadium…
"I don't think people realise, compared to the old club room, this is shiny, this is brand new. I wouldn't say it was run down, but it just didn't look as shiny as it does. So seeing that we have the first European Championships here, how far the club and the stadium have come.
"You used to see all these people, even the London 2012 Olympics when Team USA were here, me and my friends would sneak in to watch them. we weren't supposed to be here, but we got in because we knew the routes to get in. I grew up here, and this is my home, so it's just amazing to see the changes, the development, and we're going to do a good job for the Europeans, so it's crazy.”
While for Hunt, this will be her first home championships of any kind and she will be looking to medal across the 100m and 200m, in addition to the possibility of the relay.
She took a somewhat shock silver medal the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year, and since then has only shone even more.
From going sub-11 over 100m for the first time, to taking silver at the Commonwealth Games over 100m, it has already been a successful season for Hunt.
But everything has been building up to this, and she certainly won’t be shying away from the limelight.
On running the 100m, 200m and possibly the relay…
“I think to quote Sharpay Evans [character from High School Musical]: "I want it all." So I think we know the times we're putting down the training and I think it's important as a sprinter to be a complete sprinter and be able to be competitive across that full kind of 60m, 100m, 200m, relay and now obviously we have the introduction of the mixed relay. So it gives us another opportunity and that should be really exciting to bring together some of the biggest names and British sprinting onto one team together will be really iconic."
On the spotlight a home championships puts on the British team…
“I'm someone who really thrives off that competition environment and the noisier it is, the better it is for me. I love it so much. I kind of had a small taste of that in Glasgow [at the Commonwealth Games], that was my first experience of a somewhat home champs. As somebody who grew up watching London 2012 and then I was in the stadium for the men's 100m final at London 2017, so I was part of the noise it'll be cool to see the next little Amy in the crowd cheering me on.”
On her 200m form after a ‘falling out’ with the event earlier this year…
"I think me and the 200m might have a lovely little reunion and make up these champs, we did a lot of testing in the last couple weeks and some time trials we always do in the lead up to a major champs and it’s looking really good. I’m ahead of where I was before Tokyo so hopefully I can look forward to a happy renewal of our vowels."