Dina Asher-Smith is Britain’s fastest ever woman. The 20-year-old has PBs of 10.99 for 100m and 22.07 for 200m and her career has moved quickly too – just four years ago she was preparing for London 2012 kit carrying duties, now she’s ready to run in Rio.
But first she returned to London’s former Olympic Stadium, a place which has already played host to many top moments for the Blackheath & Bromley sprinter.
A box carrier in 2012, Asher-Smith was at the Games on ‘Super Saturday’ and less than a year later she formed part of a winning Great Britain 4x100m team which clocked what was then the fastest time by a British quartet in 12 years.
Two years later, the then teenager was back at the Anniversary Games and this time she contested the individual 100m. Running 10.99 in her heat, she became the first British woman to legally clock sub-11 seconds for the distance.
“I was really excited for the Anniversary Games because I’ve got such good memories of it,” she says. “Running sub-11 last year and before that it was my first time in the relay team.”
After running her record-breaking time in that 2015 heat, Asher-Smith lined up alongside athletes including Dafne Schippers, Blessing Okagbare, Murielle Ahoure, Jeneba Tarmoh and Charonda Williams in the final and finished fourth. This time she’ll take on a field featuring the likes of Jamaica’s two-time Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, plus fellow Rio-bound Britons Asha Philip and Desiree Henry.
“You always look to race the fastest girls that you can so I’m really excited to get out there,” she adds ahead of Saturday’s competition. “I had a great time last year.”
Asher-Smith secured her spot for her first Olympic Games by winning the 200m title at the British Championships last month. Looking back four years to when she was a kit carrier at the London Games, was Rio in her sights?
But first she returned to London’s former Olympic Stadium, a place which has already played host to many top moments for the Blackheath & Bromley sprinter.
A box carrier in 2012, Asher-Smith was at the Games on ‘Super Saturday’ and less than a year later she formed part of a winning Great Britain 4x100m team which clocked what was then the fastest time by a British quartet in 12 years.
Two years later, the then teenager was back at the Anniversary Games and this time she contested the individual 100m. Running 10.99 in her heat, she became the first British woman to legally clock sub-11 seconds for the distance.
“I was really excited for the Anniversary Games because I’ve got such good memories of it,” she says. “Running sub-11 last year and before that it was my first time in the relay team.”
After running her record-breaking time in that 2015 heat, Asher-Smith lined up alongside athletes including Dafne Schippers, Blessing Okagbare, Murielle Ahoure, Jeneba Tarmoh and Charonda Williams in the final and finished fourth. This time she’ll take on a field featuring the likes of Jamaica’s two-time Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, plus fellow Rio-bound Britons Asha Philip and Desiree Henry.
“You always look to race the fastest girls that you can so I’m really excited to get out there,” she adds ahead of Saturday’s competition. “I had a great time last year.”
Asher-Smith secured her spot for her first Olympic Games by winning the 200m title at the British Championships last month. Looking back four years to when she was a kit carrier at the London Games, was Rio in her sights?
“We all have dreams. My dream was always to be an Olympian but I wasn’t in a place where Rio might have been a reality”
Now she has reached Rio can she turn her dream into a reality with a Medal ?
The 200m Heats start in Rio at 13.35 15th August 2016
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