Dina injury scare
Star races to be fit for Birmingham after relay shock
DINA Asher-Smith’s hopes of competing at next week’s Commonwealth Games will hinge on the results of a scan that the star sprinter will have after arriving back in the UK today.
Asher-Smith pulled up sharply during the 4x100m relay final at the World Championships in Oregon on Saturday night but managed to hobble through the last 25 metres of her leg before handing the baton to team-mate Daryll Neita, who carried them to a sixth-place finish in 42.75secs.
Asher-Smith had earlier broken her British record to finish fourth in the 100m final and she also won a bronze medal over 200m, making her one of Britain’s leading hopes at next week’s Commonwealths in Birmingham and next month’s European Championships in Munich. But there is now serious doubt whether she will line up at either.
‘ I hope it’s nothing serious because I have got a lot more races to do this year,’ she said after the race. ‘ I’m still stunned. If I’d felt anything in the warm-up I’d never have run. I’m shocked.’
Asher-Smith was able to walk freely following the race, raising hopes it might have just been cramp. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be anything too serious,’ she said. ‘It’s just something that I couldn’t continue with. I feel really bad. I will have to go and have a check with my physio. I just feel a bit confused because I felt fine coming in, went around the bend and my legs just stopped corresponding with me. I was literally like, “What is happening? Body, what do you do to me?”’
Asher- Smith’s manager, Ricky Simms, told Sportsmail that the star sprinter will arrive back in the UK tonight and will then undergo a scan and medical assessment. ‘We will know more on Tuesday,’ he said.
The British quartet was in the hunt for gold before the incident, which occurred midway through the third leg, and in a major upset USA went on to edge Jamaica to victory in 41.14secs.
Neita, who took the baton from Asher-Smith, paid tribute to her team-mate’s effort: ‘It wasn’t nice to see her face, she obviously wasn’t very comfortable and in my head I was like, “Please just stop” but she kept going. She is a fighter and it is incredible to have her as
part of the team. The fact that she wanted to get the baton round just shows what a team player she is.
‘We didn’t come last, I don’t know how. This is just a stepping stone to the future. We will be good and she will be great.’
Imani-Lara Lansiquot, who ran the second leg, said: ‘ We win together, we lose together. All that matters is, “Are you OK?” We know how good we are. It’s just not our day and the most important thing is getting back on track.’
Asha Philip, who ran the opening leg, said: ‘As much as it’s an individual sport, we do come out here as a relay team. We are one team, it is us against the world. These things happen, you win some, you lose some. We are still going to walk off with our heads held high.’
Asher- Smith had planned to compete over 100m and in the 4x100m relay in Birmingham.
The first round of the women’s 100m begins in eight days’ time.