Berlin calling
Sprint star runs for Britain
Comparisons between Imani-lara Lansiquot and Dina Asher-smith are inevitable. Where one has stepped, the other now follows. With two years between them, the London-based pair remain the two fastest teenagers Britain has ever produced – Asher-smith holds the national junior 100metre record of 11.14 seconds and Lansiquot is just behind with 11.17sec.
It is away from the track that the similarities are perhaps even more startling, with Lansiquot, 20, one year into a psychology degree at King’s College, London – the same university from which Ashersmith, 22, graduated in history last summer.
Now, for the first time as senior athletes, the duo are British team-mates. They will run against each other in the 100m at the European Championships next month before joining forces in Britain’s 4x100m relay team.
“My first World Junior Championships was where Dina won gold [in 2014],” said Lansiquot, after her first British senior call-up. “Watching her win was completely awe-inspiring. That was a big motivation for me and a turning point in my career.
“In my first week [at King’s College], I was completely bombarded and overwhelmed with all the work. I gave her a call and said: ‘Dina, how did you do it?’ We were on the phone for an hour and she literally broke it down for me.
“She didn’t make it any better than it was – she said it was going to suck and it wasn’t going to be easy. But she told me the balance you need and that it’s worth it.
“I’ve really absorbed what she did and she’s a huge inspiration to me. She’s the British record holder for 100m and 200m, and she left Kings with a 2:1, so I definitely look to emulate what she’s done and follow in her footsteps.”
There are worse role models to have. After an injury-troubled season last year, Asher-smith has consistently broken 11 seconds for 100m this campaign and lowered her own British record to 10.92sec.
The current season has also brought a big step forward for Lansiquot, who was disappointed to finish only fourth at the British Championships last month, but secured her place on the European Championships team with a personal best of 11.11sec at the Anniversary Games last weekend. It was a time that also moved her to sixth on the British all-time list.
“I was a really talented junior,” she said. “I came fourth at the World Junior Championships and had the world ahead of me.
“Then 2017 happened and nothing I wanted to achieve happened to me. I was injured for the majority of the year – I think I left with a very small indoor PB but I got nowhere near my 100m PB and I didn’t even medal at the European Under-23 Championships.
“It took a lot of reflecting and figuring out what changes I needed to get back on track. I changed coaches and started uni again because I feel like that balance really worked for me, having school and training. It was about maturing both as an athlete and into a young woman. “Even though I was really happy to run a PB at the weekend, it wasn’t an accident at all. We worked really hard towards it and I do believe I can go a bit faster. I really think there’s a lot left in the tank. We’ve worked for more than 11.11sec.
“Hopefully I can get it right and time it perfectly for a championships. I’m determined to go [to the European Championships], make a final and see what happens from there. I’m not just there to get experience.”
As well as the Asher-smith comparisons, there is one other topic that will doubtless be raised with Lansiquot throughout her career: her name.
“I’m named after Brian Lara, the cricket player,” she said, laughing. “It’s an absolute joke, but it’s true. My family on my dad’s side, my St Lucian side, are huge cricket fans. They absolutely adore the West Indies.
“My dad tried to convince my mum to call me Brianna-lara. Imagine that. My mum said he could have the Lara but not the Brianna. “I’ve never met him, but I’d love to. He would probably think I’m weird because I’m named after him.” Remember her name: Imanilara Lansiquot.