Diamond Dina
Asher-Smith triumphs in Birmingham
It was not so much that Dina AsherSmith retained her British 100metres title at the Alexander Stadium that was most impressive, nor that she broke her own championship record in the process. It was what had taken place in the semi-final a few hours earlier.
With qualification for the final virtually assured by the time she was fully upright, Asher-Smith, a triple European champion, could easily have coasted to the line. But Asher-Smith does not often take the easy route.
On her own personal mission to break 11 seconds for every 100m race this season, she bust a gut all the way to the finish line, so desperate was she to notch up yet another mark no other British woman has ever managed.
That she did not quite achieve it owed purely to the almighty two metres per second headwind she was running into, as she crossed the line fully 10m in front of her nearest rival in 11.03sec. Taking the wind out of the equation, her time would have translated to about the 10.85 national record she set when winning European gold last summer.
Her winning time in the final, 10.96 into a -0.9m/s headwind, equated to only marginally slower.
“Last week I was like, ‘I’m going to try and keep my sub-11 streak unless there’s headwinds in Birmingham’, ” she said after the final.
“I shouldn’t have said anything because as soon as you mention it, it happens. In the first race I saw 11.03 and obviously I was happy to have won and it’s a really strong time considering the headwind, but I was playing a game with myself, so I was like, ‘Damn it’.
“The final I was just going for the win. I crossed the line and was happy to have won, but to see it get rounded down to a championship record, considering the headwind again, was great news because it means I’m in better shape than a month out from Berlin [European Championships] last year.”
With Asha Philip claiming silver in 11.29 and Daryll Neita third in 11.30, Asher-Smith’s triumph was the type of dominant victory that had been fully expected.
Already a class apart at national level, she has her sights firmly set on winning medals over both 100m and 200m at next month’s World Championships, with dress rehearsals to come at the Zurich and Brussels Diamond League finals over the next fortnight.
If Katarina Johnson-Thompson is to claim her first global heptathlon medal next month, it will likely rely more on how she fares in her weaker events than the output in her stronger suits.
It was to such an end that she was a last-minute entrant in the shot put in Birmingham yesterday, where she road-tested a new technique – the third of her career – just weeks out from the World Championships.
The outcome was little more than acceptable, with her final effort 12.60m lower than both other shot put competitions she has entered this summer, but she was just relieved to have tried something new.
That performance was sandwiched by the 100m hurdles heats and final, in which Johnson-Thompson finished fourth by running 13.57 into yet another strong headwind.
“We’re trying everything,” she said, of the decision to change shot put technique so close to a major championship. “I’m starting with two legs and I definitely feel that’s more consistent. I’m happy with 12.60.”
Johnson-Thompson has the high jump and javelin to come today.
Elsewhere, Rosie Clarke secured her World Championships place by winning the 3,000m steeplechase, while Sophie McKinna’s shot-put victory means she is also certain to be in Doha.