‘ My job is just to run in a straight line’ Meet dina asher- smith, the greatest ( and Most humble) athlete of her generation

Grazia’s Rhiannon Evans talks to Great Britain’s new golden girl…

British sprinter Dina AsherSmith deserves the long nap she’s just taken before agreeing to speak to Grazia. Last week, she returned home from the European Championships having… (deep breath) won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay), smashed the British record for 100m (running 10.85 seconds), run the fastest time in the world this year across both distances and become the first woman since 1990 (also first female Brit ever) to win three European sprint titles at the competition. It’s perhaps no surprise that The Guardian hailed it as ‘the performance of a generation’ – or that talk has already turned towards Tokyo 2020, and how many medals 22-year-old Dina can bring home.

The sprinter herself isn’t indulging in the frenzied excitement over her future though, saying she needs to ‘get a little bit faster’ before 2020. And besides, the self-confessed shopper wants to first celebrate last week’s success with a different kind of reward to gold medals – namely, handbags. ‘My mum always says, “Oh, if you do this, you’ll get a prize”,’ she tells Grazia, laughing. ‘So, for example she said for every A* I got at GCSE I’d get £100… I got nine. I’ve been wanting one of those Chloé bags [ The Nile] for years – and Mum said if I ran 10.85 she’d get it for me. Which is the time I actually ran! And I might treat myself to a Burberry one, too.’ Being mother to overachiever Dina sounds expensive, but it’d be remiss not to mention that Dina also plans to buy her parents a holiday – and a spa break (Crete, maybe) for herself to recuperate.

First, though, she wants a pedicure. ‘I’m so excited. Doing 100m, 200m and relay is not fun for my feet,’ she laughs. And before anyone thinks we’re focusing too much on how much our new Olympic hope loves a pamper, she adds, ‘Honestly people are so surprised when they hear how much, especially female athletes, go all out – it’s hair, make-up, nails... We all run with a full face of make-up, because we’re going on TV in front of, like, six million people, so you want to put your best foot forward.’ She loves Marc Jacobs Shameless foundation and Chanel Lip Blush. ‘It’ll stay on your entire race,’ she says, declaring that athletes are the people we should all be looking to for beauty product

recommendations with staying-power. ‘ We really test the durability don’t we?’ she laughs.

Dina’s loveable personality has endeared her to the public in the last fortnight. She insists her parents weren’t pushy, even when she gave up athletics for a while as a teen, but she herself had a natural drive. ‘I’ve always just wanted to be the best that I can be,’ she says, as if we’ve all been training six days a week since our early teens for 48 weeks a year – a dedication which continued while she studied for a history degree from King’s College, London. She graduated last summer.

‘University life was very dry for me, I was literally just studying and training,’ she admits. ‘I had to balance that with trying to make the team for both the World Championships and Olympics, so I definitely did not go out and party.’ She doesn’t see it as a sacrifice, though. ‘I think I am very, very fortunate to have the job I do, I get to wake up every day and do what I love.’ She’s modest about claims she’s the brightest sporting talent of her generation. ‘My job is to run in a straight line. Some people’s job is to save a life.’

Dina’s love life hit headlines earlier this year when some questioned how her split from fellow GB sprinter Zharnel Hughes would affect her racing. But asked if she fears she’s missing out on romance with all her training, she says, ‘ That’s never really been a priority for me. I’m trying to be the best athlete I can possibly be. I know it sounds boring, but everything in life comes second to that. I’ve got such a short time as an athlete, I’m probably going to retire at 32. If something happens, it happens. It’s definitely not my focus.’

One relationship that is strong is with her fellow athletes and relay team. ‘ We’re so tight-knit, most of us have known each other since we were 15,’ she says. ‘Even at times when they can be your rivals and competitors, they’re still the only people that share this wild, weird experience of going into a stadium filled with 80,000 people with cameras flashing everywhere. Ultimately, when we do well as a squad – both the men and women – it just makes it so much better.’

So, can Dina (who cites Beyoncé as an idol) run the world come 2020? Let’s just say her mum might want to start saving up for handbags.

Dina celebrates winning the 200m in Berlin. Above left: off the track in June. Far left: Dina (far right) with her winning relay team (Asha Philip, Imani-lara Lansiquot and Bianca Williams)