Amy Hunt studied English Literature at Cambridge but clearly prefers making history in her spare time. In 90 years of the European Championships, no athlete has ever won four gold medals at a single edition — but Hunt is now just one winning race away.

After completing a stunning sprint double in the 100m and 200m, Hunt joined forces with Dina Asher-Smith, Success Eduan and Imani-Lara Lansiquot to storm to 4x100m gold at the Alexander Stadium in 42.05 seconds, the fastest time in Europe this season.

“I'm having the time of my life,” said Hunt. “I'm standing next to some amazing women — Dina wins these medals for fun, Success delivers babies for a living and Imani wrote a play. They are just special and talented people.

“This week has been a whirlwind and it's not finished yet. I think next week the emotions are going to hit me and I'll be crying every day.”

Tears can wait and, regardless of what happens in Sunday's 4x100m mixed relay, Hunt is the story of these championships. But she was not the story of this night.

There is now no more decorated athlete at this event than Asher-Smith, who has won ten medals since her debut in Amsterdam ten years ago, level with Polish sprinter Irena Szewińska. Seven of them are gold, the joint record with Croatian discus thrower Sandra Elkasevic and Norway's middle-distance superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

And Asher-Smith did study history, at King's College London - this is a quartet of brains and speed.

“I've had a good week but Dina, she's the GOAT,” added Hunt.

Asher-Smith might be adjusting to no longer being the star turn of British women's sprinting, but you don't need to spend long on her Wikipedia page to realise the scale of her achievements. She is perhaps the best example of Seb Coe's promise to 'Inspire a Generation' at the London 2012 Olympics, where she volunteered as a kit-bag carrier on Super Saturday. Within a year, she'd won the first of 25 career championship medals with a 4x100m bronze at the World Championships in Moscow.

“I hear the stats but they can go in one ear and out of the other,” said Asher-Smith, who had admitted disappointment with her bronze in the 200m. “Maybe it will sink in one day, perhaps in ten years' time when I can look back and actually appreciate it.

“It's just an honour to be in the position to win these medals. It's a privilege to do this and be part of this team. Some of the medals I won individually but lots have been won with a team and that just means so much.”

A few moments earlier, Britain's Jeremiah Azu, Louis Hinchcliffe, Zharnel Hughes and Romell Glave nailed their changeovers to scorch to victory in the men's 4x100m for the fifth time in the last six championships. “They start it, we like to finish the show,” joked Hunt.

They also came in as favourites and calmly embraced the pressure, 100m champion Glave powering down the anchor leg as Germany and Belgium could only chase his fumes.

“We knew we could deliver. This team is incredible. Privately, we've set some big goals for the next two years and we are ticking them off one by one,” said 100m silver medallist Azu. “We've a great relationship between us. The days when you hated your rivals from your country are gone. We lift each other up. It feels special to win this with your friends, especially in front of our own fans.”

There was a time when you watched Britain's men in relay action expecting spills, not thrills, especially at the Olympics. With the exception of their gold medal in Athens, they failed to finish in Atlanta and were disqualified in Sydney, Beijing and London. But these two relays were a masterclass in speed and technique. Check marks were extended to the very limit and exchanges were slick.

And when these two quartets are combined for Sunday's mixed event, they'll be tough to stop if they can repeat this magic.

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