Amber Anning: GB’s 400m world indoor champion on racing, redemption & rivals

Her ascent to the upper reaches of the sport has been stylish.

Last summer, she surged to a championship record when she won the British title, leaving Laviai Nielsen and Jodie Williams in her slipstream.

In Nanjing, on the tight bends of an indoor track, she was bumped by American Alexis Holmes with 175m to go.

Anning went wide, back and, potentially, out of contention.

But she regathered herself, nibbled into Holmes’ lead, powered off the last bend and beat her rival on the dip.

Her winning margin was just three-hundredths of a second.

“With 400m you have so much time to think, it isn’t like 60m where you just get it done,” she said.

“When I got pushed I didn’t panic, I said to myself ‘this is not how you visualised it, this is not the execution you wanted, but what are you going to do before now and the end to get your gold medal?’

“I had to wait and be patient, stay engaged, and stay in touch with her and then time it to perfection.

“When I watched it back I realised that if I had made that move even a second earlier or later, I wasn’t winning. It is crazy how it works.”

There is a beautiful symmetry to Anning succeeding Ohuruogu as the British record holder.

Lloyd Cowan, who guided Ohuruogu ‘s career, also coached Anning as a junior. He died in January 2021 from complications arising from a Covid-19 infection, aged 58.

“He was like my track dad,” said Anning. “He just gave so much warmth, it felt so homely being around him. It was such a tough loss.

“I thought I would be here with him today achieving this stuff and I know he is looking down on me now and I know he would be proud.

“It feels like we kept the record in the family, which is really nice.”

Anning’s mother sits alongside Ohuruogu on the board of the Lloyd Cowan Bursary, which helps bring down financial barriers for promising young athletes and coaches who might otherwise be lost to athletics.

If Cowan shaped Anning’s early potential, it has been sharpened in the United States.

Encouraged by her mother, Anning left the UK for Louisiana State University as a teenager.

The alma mater of pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis and 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson took her out of her comfort zone.

“I felt I was maybe a little too comfortable over here [in the UK] and I needed that extra push,” she said.

“Over there, you are seeing success in your face every day.

“Because it is such a big place and big population, only a small percentage are going to make it, maybe they want it that much more because they know the chances are slimmer.

“I needed to take on that mentality of wanting to be the best in the world because that is the level they are at over there.”