University News Last updated 29 April
Great Britain athlete Sam Lunt said he “threw a hissy fit” when he was told his sporting future lay in the 400m hurdles.
The 19-year-old Birmingham City University student wanted to be a sprinter after giving up on his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
“I started off with 100m and 200m, as most kids do, then progressed into 300m,” recalled Sam.
“My coach said I should try the hurdles, and I sort of threw a hissy fit. I didn't want to do hurdles.
“My grandad just said to give it a week. And yeah, it just went from there. I just kept progressing.”
The diehard Liverpool fan had hoped of emulating footballing heroes Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander Arnold when he began his sporting journey.
But after “getting to a certain age”, he says he started to get a “little bit bored” of football.
“I was playing Saturday and Sunday league football, so it was quite a lot,” said Sam. “I just thought I'll break it up a little bit and tried athletics while still doing football.
“Then as I progressed, the smarter decision was to just do athletics. I didn’t fancy getting two-footed on a Sunday League pitch either.”
Sam’s rise in athletics has been pretty monumental. He’s won numerous titles and holds national records for the 400m hurdles at U17 and U20 level.
He also continues to compete over the flat at 60m, 100m, 200m and 400m.
How was his first time going over hurdles?
“It's sort of like riding a bike for the first time,” he said. “Just sort of thrown into it and see what happens. It's more of a fear element, I would say.
“Once you get over that, it's just like running. You just sort of glide over the hurdle.”
While his dream is to win Olympic 400m hurdles gold like one of his heroes, Ed Moses, Sam will represent Great Britain over the flat in next month’s World Relays in China.
In January, he clocked 47.19 seconds for the 400m in a promising season opener in Glasgow only to injure his hamstring a few days afterwards.
He missed the rest of the indoor season and hadn’t expected the call-up from GB, which is why he didn’t answer his phone straight away when GB selectors rang.
“I eventually picked up and, yeah, I was very excited,” said Sam.
“I was screaming down the phone. Not many teenagers get their first senior call-up at this age, So, yeah, it's good. A massive surprise.”
Sam is quick to thank BCU for helping him juggle his athletics with his studies.
Despite his sporting commitments, he has to keep pace with his course requirements.
“I study Sports Science,” he said. “It goes hand in hand with athletics, so it fits perfectly.
”I can hop in and out of groups depending on how my timetable fits, which not every student can do. So, obviously, I'm quite grateful to do that.”
He will also be keeping up with his studies while in China.
“Yeah, I will be,” he said. “I'll be taking my workbooks and computers out there.”