5 things you should know about Dina Asher-Smith
After cruising to victory in her 200m hear at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest earlier this week, Dina Asher-Smith has her eye on a gold in the 200m final on Friday night.
The 27-year-old faced disappointment in the 100m final earlier this week where she clocked 11 seconds to finish eighth, as the USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson clinched the top spot in 10.65.
But Asher-Smith, who finished fourth in the 100m at last year's Champs, says that, despite the result, she felt 'good' and had no niggles holding her back. 'I’m almost in disbelief,' she said after. 'I know myself and I know that I feel good. I came here for a new personal best. I know I’m in great shape. I ran 10.8 a few weeks ago. It doesn’t really happen to me. That’s why I’m so surprised.'
Now Asher-Smith's attention turns to the 200m, which she won at the World Champs in Doha in 2019 and finished third last year in Eugene.
She'll go head-to-head with a strong field of sprinters that includes Jamaican athlete and last year's 200m World champion Shericka Jackson and Sha'Carri Richardson of the USA, who is riding high on the back of her 100m win.
Here are five things you should know about the two-time Olympic bronze-winning athlete:
She shared a school with some other famous alumni
Asher-Smith attended Newstead Wood School, a selective state grammar school in Orpington, on the southeastern edge of Greater London. She can certainly be classed as ‘notable alumni’, a category she shares with a number of former pupils, including actor Gemma Chan (Humans), comedian Josie Long and Emma Raducanu, the tennis prodigy who achieved fame at last year’s Wimbledon tournament.
Josephine Vander Gucht, one half of pop duo Oh Wonder, also attended Newstead Wood. She told the Runner’s World UK podcast: ‘On Sports Day I would be the one that was like, “I’ll do the egg and spoon race,” and there were legitimate runners’ – a group that included Asher-Smith.
She was one to watch from an early age
Asher-Smith was an impressive junior athlete. She won the 200m title at the English Schools Championships as an Under 15, Under 17 and Under 20, and won gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the European Junior Championships in 2013. That same year, she was the youngest athlete selected for the British Squad at the World Championships in Moscow, helping the relay team bring home a bronze medal.
Then, in 2015, she became the fastest teenager in history over 60m, at the European Indoor Championships in Prague. She told Runner’s World UK at the time: ‘I didn’t even know, it was only when I went on Twitter hours and hours later and the BBC had a little thing up of my face that said I was the fastest teenager ever! It was pretty weird, I wasn’t expecting it at all but I’m really, really happy with the way the indoor season has gone’.
She managed an impressive academic record alongside her athletic career
Even though she was showing signs of an incredible sporting career at an early age, Asher-Smith didn’t give up on her academic career.
After achieving strong A-level results just a year after her performance in Moscow, Asher-Smith went to King’s College London to study History. She graduated with a 2:1, having written a dissertation on the history of jazz music, focusing on Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
Speaking to RW back when she was in her first year, she said: ‘The first semester, it was a bit of a shock, as the workload at King’s is quite demanding... but I’m getting used to it; the essays are OK, the reading is fine but it’s exam period now, so that’s a bit annoying.
‘I really want to focus and do well in my first year, hopefully set myself up for doing well in my degree.’
She has had the same coach since she was eight years old
Asher-Smith has been working with her coach, John Blackie, since she first joined Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Athletics Club at the age of eight.
Blackie was named Coach of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2019, after guiding Asher-Smith to the 200m world title in Doha that year. He said at the awards ceremony: ‘Dina is very special, so she is a pleasure to coach.’
Asher-Smith, who presented Blackie with the award, said: ‘I found out on Wednesday and I cried on the train. He’s just so inspirational, so selfless and he gives his time and his emotions to all of his athletes. He doesn’t have favourites and he doesn’t keep favourites…I think he deserves it so much.’
She swapped the running track for the catwalk in 2018 for Paris Fashion Week
Asher-Smith has long been interested in fashion; it had been a source of fun, empowerment and pride for as long as she could remember, she told Elle.
In 2018, she kicked off her modelling career with a stint on the catwalk for Off-White’s show at Paris Fashion Week. Asher-Smith appeared in a neon yellow bodysuit, with a zip pocket on the right leg, from the brand’s partnership with Nike. Alongside the sprinter was fellow Olympian Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who wore a sleeveless black shirt with a blue design.
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