SPEED DEMONS
Asher-Smith and Hughes claim 100m golds for Britain
THE history student wrote a wonderful piece of her own and the pilot she used to date has finally taken off. What a stunning evening for Dina Asher-Smith and Zharnel Hughes, separated off the track but the new queen and king of European sprinting on it.
It was not quite what it might have been for Reece Prescod, the golden boy who struck silver in a fine 100metres final, but with a third Brit in CJ Ujah taking fourth in that race, the night offered a perfect summation of how strong this generation of British speedsters are, men and women.
None is stronger than AsherSmith, though. She was the star of the show and the athlete who, more than anyone else, offers the potential of medals on the next rung up, world and Olympic level.
She is that good and that much has been obvious for four years, right back to when she won the world juniors in 2014 and earlier.
But this felt like the strongest performance yet from the 22-yearold, more so than her 200m crown at the last European Championships in 2016 and more than her world and Olympic relay medals.
For a start, she obliterated her own British record to win it. The hint that she would came in the semi-final when she jogged to 10.93sec, 0.01sec shy of the mark she set earlier in the summer. And then the action came when she battered the field in a worldleading 10.85sec in the final.
What made it more impressive, aside from a huge winning margin of 0.13sec on Germany’s Gina Luckenkemper, was that the double world 200m gold medallist Dafne Schippers was down in third on 10.99sec.
Asher-Smith had never beaten her in a championship previously but here she smashed her, with fellow Brit Imani-Lara Lansiquot an impressive sixth on her international debut.
When it was done, she danced manically on the track, making up for lost time after a broken foot interrupted her 2017 season. She finished fourth in the worlds that year and you have to wonder what medal she would have taken had she stayed fit, but surely more will follow.
For a start, the history graduate is trying to become the first Brit ever to win a golden hat-trick at this level, with a Schippers rematch in the 200m on Saturday and then the 4x100m relay on Sunday. No woman has achieved the European treble since the East German Katrin Krabbe 28 years ago, but you wouldn’t bet against Asher-Smith.
‘I am so happy,’ she said last night. ‘To run a 10.8 in the championships is a big deal. I knew I had it in me but anything can happen as you can see.
‘I did everything right. I was so happy to nail it in the final and I wanted the world-leading time. I am hoping to do the same thing that I did today in the Tokyo Olympics (in 2020).
‘I’m going to let myself enjoy the emotional high then refocus. The 200m I have to take like another championship — it’s a completely clean slate because I’m only one third of the way there.’
With that, she bounced and waved her way into the night and up stepped the men. Prescod is considered by the world-leading Americans as the most dangerous of the coming Brits but here he was put in the shade by the resurgent force of Hughes.
His bonkers year has so far seen him dive for cover from the bullets of an armed robber in Jamaica and lose a 200m gold medal at the Commonwealth Games to a disqualification in Australia.
Factor in a 9.91sec 100m run back in June and it was rather surprising he arrived in Berlin primarily telling fun tales about his other life as a trainee pilot. A case of ground control to major champion, for the trainee pilot who Usain Bolt calls ‘captain’ and who took this final in 9.95sec, his fourth sub-10 time of the year.
It was a stunning run, even if there may have been a whiff of luck about it, because France’s Jimmy Vicaut, who had qualified fastest from the semi-final in a championship record of 9.97sec, injured himself in the warm-up for the final.
Prescod had another slow start after one in the semi-final — his only weakness because his pace at full stride is immense — and Hughes led from the off. He crossed just 0.01sec ahead of Prescod, who finished in 9.96sec — his first official sub-10 run.
‘I am happy and the job is done,’ Hughes said. ‘I felt a bit of cramp, so I don’t think I could have gone any faster but I’m just happy. Reece is a fast finisher, so I knew I had to stay relaxed as he would challenge me near the end. I’m happy we came out victorious.’
Prescod said: ‘I am really happy. I have had a really good season. It is good to have a British one-two, sprinting is in a good place right now. We push each other hard and we run hard. I hope it continues in future Games.’
Meanwhile, Lynsey Sharp booked her place in today’s 800m semi-finals after taking second place in her heat with a time of 2:00.32. Fellow Scot Kirsten McAslan impressed on her bigtime debut as a 400m hurdler by also making her semi-final, running 56.78 secs to progress in second place from the outside lane.