Golden girl’s our Brimful of Asher
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Dina dines out on 200m glory
SHE’S been laying off the cakes despite an addiction to Bake Off but Dina AsherSmith whipped up quite the showstopper last night to devour 200 metres gold.
World champion at 23. The first British woman to land a global sprint title. A UK record of 21.88 seconds. And a recipe for success that’s set to run and run.
After cooking up a silver in the 100m last weekend, the appetite for something bigger and better was huge, especially with several key rivals opting out.
The history graduate with a first-class degree never looked like she wouldn’t be first past the post as she bolted clear into the home straight in Doha.
Her time was one-hundredth of a second quicker than she’d gone before – with the USA’s Brittany Brown strides behind in silver and Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji bagging bronze.
The golden girl said: “This means so much.
“I woke up today thinking, ‘This is it! I know I have the relay but this is my last individual race, this is the moment to do all the work for.’ And suddenly the tiredness disappeared.
“Everyone said, ‘You are the favourite’ but you still have to go out, do it and perform. I was focused on that. I have dreamed of this and now it’s real.”
Asher-Smith’s parents were in the crowd cheering her on and she admitted that made the victory even more special.
She said: “There’s so many British fans here. I know lots of Brits live in Doha but lots have travelled and for my mum to be here, my dad John and his wife and my physios, it just means the world to me.”
Dynamic Dina now has the world at her feet – with a shot at a medal treble in the 4x100 relay this weekend.
She might not be Britain’s only golden girl if Katarina JohnsonThompson can hold on to top spot in the heptathlon tonight.
The Scouser, 26, stunned herself with a personal best in the 100m hurdles of 13.09 seconds before landing another one in the shot put by throwing 13.86m.
In between she matched reigning champ Nafi Thiam by clearing 1.95m in the high jump and then rounded it off by clocking 23.09 secs in the 200m.
It meant KJT ended with her best-ever day one score of 4138 points – 96 ahead of brilliant Belgian Nafi in their chase for gold.
And the Brit said: “It’s insane. It’s really important to end the day on top.
“I have to negotiate three events, including another throw. But to end up on top, despite not my best 200, means I have something to work on.”
Sophie McKinna became the first British woman since 1983 to reach the shot put final by launching a stunning personal best of 18.61m.
But medal hope Andrew Pozzi fell flat in the 110m hurdles semis as the USA’s Grant Holloway struck gold.
Pozzi, who will now cheer on girlfriend Kat in her gold hunt, said: “It was just messy from start to finish.”