England's Amy Hunt secured a silver medal in the women's 100-meter final at the Commonwealth Games, overcoming torrential rain and a difficult start to finish second. New Zealand's Zoe Hobbs won gold.
Hunt, a Cambridge University graduate, acknowledged the challenging conditions, describing the track as "pretty gross" on the start line due to the rain.
"My fingers were underwater but you just have to roll with the punches at champs," Hunt said after the race, despite losing three acrylic nails on the starting blocks. She finished with a time of 10.98 seconds.
The wet conditions led to the track surface becoming saturated, with stadium staff using squeegee machines to try and clear the water. The high jump event was also delayed by nearly two hours due to the weather.
Hunt noted that she had a "terrible first 60 meters" but her "top end speed" allowed her to recover and secure the silver medal. She expressed confidence in her ability to improve, stating, "I think gold was definitely there for the taking."
Despite missing out on gold, Hunt views the performance as part of a long-term plan aiming for medal contention in the 200m at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. She has achieved personal bests in the 50m, 60m, and 100m events in 2026.
"It's really, really important as a track athlete," Hunt said, highlighting the need for media representation in the sport. "We're not NBA players. We're not on TV three times a week, when everyone's seeing our faces. It's really, really important in terms of my journey as an athlete, my legacy is an athlete."
Notably, several top sprinters, including Olympic champion Julien Alfred and the season's fastest woman Adaejah Hodge, were absent from the Games. English teammate Elliot Jones also faced the wet conditions in his 100m semi-final, describing the track as feeling like he "couldn't get any traction."