Dina dedicates brilliant bronze to beloved gran
DINA ASHER-SMITH last night paid an emotional tribute to her late gran – dedicating a brilliant bronze to her “partner in mischief”.
A year after injury ruined her Olympics, Britain’s fastest woman returned to the championship stage to claim the medal her heart was set on.
Asher-Smith said: “Truly, this is for my whole family, but I dedicate the medal to my grandma. It has been such a tough few months for us.”
Asher-Smith started the 200metres final fast and coming off the bend was 0.04 down on Shericka Jackson.
But that was the last she saw of her – the Jamaican covering the second 100m in a staggering 10.41secs to clock the second fastest time in history (21.45secs), well ahead of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.81) to take the title Asher-Smith (22.02) won in Doha.
But the only loss weighing heavily on Asher-Smith was that of her gran, who was laid to rest last month. Sislyn Asher came over from Trinidad as part of the Windrush generation and worked as a NHS nurse.
Her death at the age of 92 knocked Dina knocked for six and she said: “She was my partner in mischief, I spent every day at her house when I was younger.
“She was very cheeky, very bubbly, just like me. We looked very similar, same mannerisms, birthdays two days apart. My life is never going to be the same and nor am I. We were so close.
“I had to take myself from being so profoundly sad to being OK to race.
“But in this type of calibre being OK to race isn’t good enough. Your mind has to be there too and my brain has been everywhere if I am honest.”