The road to success is a difficult one. But difficult is an understatement when it comes to this British hurdler. After all, she went from being crippled for three weeks to running and claiming two bronzes in the 2024 Summer Olympics. She has become synonymous with comebacks and has comeback stories. But with luck, she has a new roadblock that has just presented itself. But the woman in question is none other than Amber Anning and she is ready for this challenge as well.

While this recent obstacle isn’t an easy one, she has had many like this before. The 2017 hamstring injury was just a hurdle on her track; the 2018 one did make her miss the World Junior Championships that year, but she got back up stronger. Her latest endeavor came on during the European Athletics Indoor Championships, where the Olympian put on a terrific performance in her heat. But Anning’s luck being Anning’s luck; despite a good head start yesterday, the Brit athlete is stumbling today.

Despite being the fastest in the women’s 400m on Thursday with an impressive timing of 51.03, you will not find Amber Anning with number 1 next to her name. You will not find her name on the top when you look for the results of the event because the British Olympian was disqualified. Athletics Weekly broke out the news on Twitter on 7th March 2025.

The magazine wrote of its official X account, “Amber Anning, who won her heat in a seriously impressive 51.03, has been disqualified from the 400m at the European Indoor Championships.” The reason being that they were crossing the lane line, the tweet continued, “The reasoning given was a lane infringement.”

People have pointed out that when you slow down the clip of the race, you can see the British runner could be seen stepping over the line multiple times. The 2023 World Athletics Championships bronze winner was completely heartbroken after the news and could be seen crying hysterically after the news. Things have always been tough for her, be it from her injuries or the disqualification at the championship.

The European Athletics Indoor Championships are under way in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, from the 6th of March 2025, and will continue until the 10th. The semi-finals to the 400m women’s event were won by Czech Republic’s Lada VONDROVÁ, who clocked a 51.91 on the track, a position that could have been Anning’s had she not been disqualified.

Amber Anning and the race with her struggles

The amount of power and speed Amber puts in her races, double it, and that is what she uses to get through her struggles. The word easy wasn’t made for her. For starters, the Sussex sports personality of the year for 2023 was left in a state that she could not even walk for three weeks, thanks to her lower back injury.

The 2018 Hamstring injury made the 24-year-old miss the 2018 World Juniors and in her very own words, “I was devastated to miss the World Juniors in 2018…. It was really tough watching my friends compete and seeing all the pictures and memories. It was even harder as I knew my competitors were the best in the world and I wanted a chance to test myself against them.”

The feeling of loneliness and the awkwardness to be left behind haunted the two-time European Athletics Championships medalist, and that was not it. Quality and quantity were another aspect of her struggles. Before going to the Paris Olympics in 2024, the US-based British athlete had a relentless schedule that meant she raced over 40 times.

These races included her collegiate athletics, which the 2023 NCAA Indoor Gold winner did not have a likeness to, citing “I wasn’t really enjoying college athletics. I really struggled and injuries played a part.” One more thing that was a nightmare for Anning was death. 2020, the year when the Tokyo Olympics were delayed because of COVID, marked a significant event in Anning’s life.

Her British-based coach, Lloyd Cowan, died. The athlete was in LSU at that time and the death “hit me very hard.” Anning was also disappointed after her Paris Olympics bronze, as the athlete “wanted more, but I’ve set my sights on LA [the 2028 Olympics]. I know what I need to change in the next four years.”

So we do know that something is brewing in the Brit for 2028 and though the DQ from the European championships is a big blow, we know she will rise back stronger like every other time.