With arms outstretched and a grin almost as wide, Amy Hunt signed off from these European Championships in the same way she began – by claiming a gold medal. Make that four in the space of a week and a slice of history.No woman has ever won so many from a single sitting at this level, but a perfect week for Hunt was concluded by dragging Britain to victory via a tricky spot in the mixed 4x100m relay.Added to a gold medal secured later in the evening by Georgia Hunter Bell, and team gold in the female marathon, it was stunning day for British women in Birmingham. But Hunt was the star. Hunt was the show. Hunt was the breakthrough act that offers rich promise for the second half of this Olympic cycle.That much was shown again on closing night, in a new relay format that has the ring of a gimmick but leant itself to an unexpectedly tight race.It started inauspiciously when Jeremiah Azu, the men’s silver medallist, left Dina Asher-Smith in fourth at the first change, before the former 200m world champion launched her team back into the lead with a superb leg of 10.04sec. But even then, there was work to do because Zharnel Hughes, surprisingly selected ahead of Romell Glave, lost the lead to Germany.Enter Hunt. Taking the baton for the anchor leg, she was 0.03sec behind Gina Luckenkemper, but demolished that deficit in a handful of those long strides before seeing off the closing portion in just 9.86sec. Clocking 39.97sec, 0.14sec clear of Germany, Britain had another gold and so did Hunt. Amy Hunt helped Team GB claim gold in the mixed 100m relay on Sunday evening The self-styled ‘track goddess’ aimed for a historic four medals and won them without skipping a beat‘Oh my gosh, I am over the moon,’ said Hunt, 24. ‘To finish it off with some of my best friends in the sport is incredible.‘Me and Jeremiah have the same birthday, so we’re kind of twins. To do it all together is incredible.’Indicating that there had been a late change of plans to the line-up, Hunt also disclosed she had only practised handovers with Hughes an hour before the gun. Clearly they had the raw speed to cope.While Hunt’s haul is unprecedented, it will be noted that the mixed relay was only introduced this year. But that will not be counted against a Cambridge graduate who destroyed all-comers as an individual in the 100m and 200m and has added two relay titles in the course of a single weekend. She once described herself as a ‘track goddess and academic badass’ and the counter-arguments are getting harder to stage.The forthcoming intrigue will centre on how she competes at the World Championships next year, where the best of the United States and Caribbean might offer better perspective of her level. As for Asher-Smith, 30, this was the eighth European gold medal of her career and 10th of any shade, giving her the outright female record in the 92 years of the championship.Less than an hour later, Hunter Bell secured gold of her own in the 1500m, with a victory that was easier to predict than any of the past week. With the exception of France’s Agathe Guillemot, no one in this field had ticked off the distance within three seconds of her best mark for 2026.But it is one thing to stand apart on paper and another to dance through the tactical minefield of a race at the sport’s most complex distance. Hunter Bell’s approach was delightfully straightforward – she set a slow pace from the front and then kicked them all the smithereens in the final 300m when Klaudia Kazimierska attempted a challenge on the last lap. Crossing in 4:07.78, Hunt Bell was well over a second clear of the Pole in silver. Hunt praised some of her ‘best friends’ in the sport – team-mates Zharnel Hughes, Jeremiah Azu, and Dina Asher-Smith Georgia Hunter Bell blew away her competition with another faultless 1500m performanceFor those who follow track and field, Hunter Bell’s story is well known by now, but fresh audiences ought to watch in awe of a woman who quit for five years in her twenties and only turned professional after Olympic bronze in 2024. Prior to that decision, she was working in cyber security; in the two years since, she has now seven international medals, including golds this season at the world indoors, Commonwealth Games and here. Remarkable.The tone for British women was set earlier in the day, when Abbie Donnelly took bronze in the marathon – the first British female to ever step on that particular podium. Coupled with the elevated placings of Natasha Wilson (fifth) and Rose Harvey (14th), Donnelly led Britain to the team gold.Jazmin Sawyers, competing two years after rupturing an Achilles tendon, took an impressive silver in a high-level long jump showdown. Her season best mark 6.99m was only bettered by Italy’s Larissa Iapichino.Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m teams took silver, carrying Britain to 19 medals for the Championship, but the latter’s narrow loss to Italy gave the Italians top spot in the final table.