World 400m champion Amber Anning talks about the steps that took her to the top and outlines her ambitions to seize every opportunity in 2026.
There will always be defining moments in an athlete’s career. key decisions or significant events that lead to fundamental changes. For Amber Anning, leaving Great Britain in 2019 to study at Louisiana State University (LSU) was an important first step, but her move to the University of Arkansas in 2022 was driven by a desire to improve over 400m, which proved transformative, leading to multiple NCAA titles and British records, two recent Olympic relay bronze medals, 40 world golds. medals,
“Track has not been interesting to me for the past few years,” he told AW in 2023. “Now I’m surrounded by people who have similar goals, and that makes you want greatness.”
That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy himself at LSU. “I probably had a bit too much fun,” he laughs, but he was the only 400m runner on the team. Arkansas, by contrast, had several athletes make major finals.
“For me to get to that next level and progress, Arkansas was the right step,” the 25-year-old said. “Coach (Chris) Johnson didn’t sugarcoat anything. He was very honest. He said: “You will work hard here. We will push you. Not every day will be glamorous, but I strongly believe that you will achieve what you want.”
Anning ran 50.68 at the 2023 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships, a huge improvement after “struggling to break 52 seconds.” Less than a year later, she ran 22.60 to break Catherine Merry’s 25-year-old British indoor 200m record (22.83) before ending her collegiate career as the 2024 NCAA 400m champion.
That summer, dipping under 50 seconds for the first time at the SEC Outdoor Championships in 49.51, he went on to make history with Arkansas’ Fantastic Four. Anning’s record-setting quartet, plus Jamaican record-holder Nikisha Price and the U.S. duo of Kailyn Brown and Rosie Effiong, Olympic and world indoor 4 x 400m gold medalists, respectively, dominated both major conferences and became the first college team to finish from first to fourth at the NCAA 9 Championships. In the 4 x 400m relay, her final collegiate race, the quartet impressively broke her own NCAA record to finish fourth on the all-time world list with a time of 3:17.96.
While Anning’s move to Arkansas was a conscious decision to improve as an athlete, graduating in 2024 represented an unconscious change and a new beginning. At the Paris Olympics, where he signed his first professional contract with Nike, he won two bronze medals and finished fifth in the 400m final in a British record 49.29. She also joined Mary Rand (1964) as only the second British woman to hold three national records in one Games.
Seven months later, she won her first global title, winning gold at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in China, a mentally and physically demanding feat following her disqualification from the European Indoor Championships earlier that month.
Anning posted two more sub-50 performances (49.96 in Paris and 49.75 in Zurich) ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo in September. He then cemented his reputation as a “championship performer” with two of the three fastest times of his career in Japan, 49.38 in the semifinals and 49.36 in the fifth final. He now occupies the top three places on the British all-time list.
“The biggest factor in my success after graduation was staying in Arkansas with a coach and training with a talented group of women in the 400m who continue to push me both on and off the track,” said the Brighton & Hove AC athlete, who was previously coached by the late Lloyd Cowan MBE.
“While it was amazing to have that group at school, turning pro allowed me to be more targeted with everything from nutrition, training and recovery, and I didn’t have to rush after school to finish the course.
“Getting out of the Olympics also gave me a lot of confidence. I wanted to keep things very similar in college, so it was a good alignment for me.”
With greater self-belief and a growing international profile, Anning is increasingly focusing on impact beyond performance. She is outspoken about supporting the next generation and creating better structures for women in sport, whether it’s discussing taboo issues or encouraging them to try athletics for the first time.
She has been inspired by athletes including Alison Felix, Shelley-Anne Fraser-Pryce, Shauna Miller-Whibo, Faith Kipyegon and British teammate Bianca Williams who have come back stronger after becoming mothers. “Motherhood is so beautiful, and the fact that they’ve been able to return to elite-level sport is incredible,” she says, as she joins Paula Radcliffe, Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter-Bell at a recent panel discussion on Nike’s After Dark Tour to discuss the progression of women’s sport, from clothing design to research.
“These are the discussions I’d like to continue,” he says. “Particularly the education about periods and their impact on training and performance and what we need to continue to compete at the highest level. I have been inspired by the generosity of British athletes towards me and now I want to give something back.”
Led by Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu, Anning is already delivering on that promise. When he signed with Nike, he made an “unusual request” to include ring-fenced support for the Lloyd Cowan Bursary, which provides annual grants to qualified coaches and underfunded athletes aged 16-23 who face financial barriers to development opportunities in athletics. “I wanted to honor Lloyd and give the recipients access to Nike gear and equipment to make their journeys a little easier,” he explains. To date, more than 200 athletes and coaches have benefited from his support.
In the short term, his focus remains on performance. she loves athletics without the inclement weather, the more intimate setting and the excitement of reaching the break, and she is aiming to defend her world title in Poland next month, as well as target Nicola Sanders’ British indoor record of 50.02, a mark that has stood since 2007. Whittaker set a US indoor record of 49.24 in 2025.
A positive change is afoot and this summer, which has been exciting for Britain’s athletes with two major home championships, could provide another defining moment in Anning’s career as she also looks to go a lap faster outdoors.
“I’ve run about the same times in the 400m the last two years, and I need to make that transition,” he says. “The event continued. 47 seconds is now the gold standard, so we have to work towards that. I’ve run the 49 enough. I want to go 48 and I want to get the British record as low as possible.
“It’s a summer full of opportunities for me to do that and winning European gold in Birmingham will be icing on the cake. I’ll have my family and friends in the stands, so if I can come away with gold in the 400m and then another 4 x 400m, that would be pretty special.”
