Asher-smith edged out by Miller-uibo
Bahamian runs personal best in 200m victory Briton favourite to win in Doha due to absence
Another second place for Dina Asher-smith, another victory for the irrepressible Shaunae Milleruibo, and another step closer to Britain possessing the outright favourite for the world 200metres title. Yet again Asher-smith took on the world’s best and beat them all. Except one.
First mention must go to Milleruibo, who continued to prove she is the finest 200m runner on the planet by wrapping up the Diamond League trophy in phenomenal style. It is a travesty for athletics that the World Championships schedule does not allow the Bahamian to attempt a 200m/400m double next month, forcing her to choose only the longer event at which she won her Olympic title.
Miller-uibo’s 21.74 seconds victory into a minor headwind was a personal best, the fastest time in the world for four years and a time only 10 women have ever bettered. An athlete who remains unbeaten for two seasons deserves the opportunity to fight on two fronts.
But in Miller-uibo’s absence, it falls to the next best to claim the world title in Doha next month and it would be a bold move to suggest anyone is better placed than Ashersmith. Her 22.08 sec time here was the fastest she has ever run outside of a major championship and it was at the expense of Jamaica’s Olympic champion Elaine Thompson and world champion Dafne Schippers, of Holland.
Thompson will undoubtedly come back stronger when it matters next month, but does Ashersmith agree she is now favourite to win world gold?
“Don’t start with that!” she said. “You’ve got reigning Olympic and world champions. I got a season’s best but you’ve got so many talented and experienced performers. I wanted to win today, so the competitor in me is like, ‘I worked so hard’. But that’s track and field. If you try your hardest and someone runs better than you, that’s them and this is me. I’m sad I didn’t win, but it’s great that my standards for myself have risen. To run that fast before Doha is fantastic.”
Despite Miller-uibo’s absence opening the door to claim a first world title, Asher-smith said she would prefer the Bahamian to be in the race in Doha. “I’m a competitor and I always like to have everyone you can on the line,” she said. “So I think it is a shame. I love good races and also put rising to my very best above wherever I might finish.”
Asher-smith will face many of the same women over 100m in her final World Championships prep race at the Brussels Diamond League final next Friday.
Zharnel Hughes and Adam Gemili will also compete over 100m and 200m in Doha, although they suggested doubling up over both distances at last weekend’s British Championships had left them exhausted for this 100m Diamond League final in Zurich.
The pair clocked the same 10.15 sec time as Hughes finished sixth and Gemili seventh in a slow race won by American Noah Lyles in 9.98 sec. “What people remember is who gets on the podium in Doha and it’s open in the sprints,” said Gemili. “I don’t think there’s a clear favourite and whoever turns up on the day will take the gold.”
Fresh from winning her first British 400m title, Laviai Nielsen finished fifth in Zurich behind Bahrain’s runaway winner Salwa Eid Naser before insisting she has bold hopes for the World Championships. “Fifth is not where I want to be,” she said.
‘I put rising to my very best above where it is that I might finish’