The US-based Brit faced a relentless schedule which meant she ran more than 40 times before reaching the Olympics, but that didn’t stop her breaking the British 400m record and coming home from Paris with two medals.
An athlete trying to peak at the right time requires a careful balancing act between science and art. Convention dictates that they shouldn’t compromise until the big day.
Four of Britain’s five 400m representatives at the Paris Olympics ran between eight and 22 times in a calendar year.The demands on American university athletes make such a numerical limitation difficult, so Amber Anning, GB’s fifth 400m runner, did not have that luxury.
By the time she arrived in the French capital, Anne had already run more than 40 races, from the 4x100m to the 800m, in 2024. Most notably, she left with two Olympic bronze medals and an elite group of British women (along with Mary Rand). to set three British records in one Games. In fact, he now thinks his stress in Paris didn’t even compare With running back two months ago in his University of Arkansas vest.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think about the Olympics during my college season,” said Anning, 24. “I mentally split the year to avoid putting pressure on myself.
“I was actually more nervous about the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) finals than the Olympics because there was so much pressure on my team to finish that ‘super sweep’ (where Anning was part of the top four at Arkansas) : won the 4x400m race and broke the college record. It felt so intense. When the Olympics started, I felt like I was already performing at such a high level.”
For those without personal experience of American college sports, it may seem strange to compare college competition to the undisputed pinnacle of athletics. , how things will develop in Paris.
Amber Anning (Getty)
Her Olympic bronze medals in the medley and women’s 4x400m relay sandwiched a national record of 49.29 in the individual 400m, besting her mentor, two-time Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu, by just a fraction. was left from the podium.
“I was a little disappointed because I knew the part of the race where I let it slip,” Anning said I didn’t get a medal, then I wanted a national record. I wanted more, but I set my sights on Los Angeles (2028 Olympics). I know what it takes change over the next four years.”
All this was far from the position he found himself in three summers earlier. The year of the Tokyo Games, which was postponed due to Covid. That January, in the middle of his second year at Louisiana State University, Lloyd Cowan, Anning’s British coach, died. “It hit me hard,” he says.
On the track, the Commonwealth Youth and European Under-20 medalist’s upward trajectory was disappointingly beginning to climb, eventually leading across state borders to neighboring Arkansas.
“I didn’t really like college athletics,” he admits.
“I went to the Olympic trials in Tokyo and I was dead last in the finals, not making the team. Everyone else was selected in that finals except for me, which caused a lot of emotions.
“To regain my love for sports, I knew I needed a change of scenery, a fresh start. My happiness at LSU was so tied to my performances. Losing was something I wasn’t used to, and it took a toll on me mentally :
“Moving to Arkansas, I started to take the beating more. I realized there were faster girls there, and I wanted to compete with them. It was about raising my game to get to their level, because I knew I had the talent to do this.
Amber Anning (Getty)
“I was the only woman at LSU in the 400m, and I needed more female partners. I knew Arkansas had a strong group of 400m runners, which was the step I needed to lower my times.”
“As much as I loved LSU, it was a big school and I had a hard time staying focused with so many things going on. It’s quieter in Arkansas and I had to change my environment to stop partying.”
After graduating with a degree in public relations and advertising over the summer, he is now back in Fayetteville as a full-time Nike-sponsored professional. he now works alongside Olympians and pros Shameer Little, Nikisha Price and Shafiqua Maloney, the day-to-day structure remains the same under his collegiate coach Chris Johnson. The end of student life also means he no longer has to represent his university on a week-to-week basis.
Amber Anning (Sadie Rucker/Arkansas Athletics)
“It will be an adjustment,” Anning says. “Patience will be important because I won’t be competing as much, which means there will be fewer opportunities to do what I need to do. But every step is a building block for next year.” (World Cup) to achieve my goal.”
Anning is busy learning to drive and plans to fill her newfound free time by reading and following Olympian Tom Daley into the world of knitting;
On the track, she may attempt another 200m this winter after earlier this year breaking Kathryn Merry’s national 200m indoor record, which stood before Anning was born and he believes that staying on the other side of the Atlantic is the best way to achieve this.
Amber Anning (Arkansas)
“Before I came to America, my plan was to return to Lloyd after my degree, but with his passing and the success I’ve had under Coach Johnson, it didn’t make sense to change my environment,” he explains.
“I came here for a reason. I have achieved so much and there is still so much to do. If I could have this institution in the UK, along with the good weather, I would never leave because there is so much about the British culture that I would miss also to be able to see my family and friends more often. But I’m happy to be back here.”
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