DINA ASHER-SMITH

London’s new star sprinter on setting records and why she’s ready to rock in Rio

HEN the camera pans down the starting line-up of the women’s 200m in Rio in three weeks, you can guarantee there will be showboating for the crowd, fierce glares, patriotic manicures — and a broad beam from Dina Asher-Smith. The Londoner will be the be the one grinning into the lens, giving a cheerful wave.

Her composed and sunny trackside demeanour has become a staple of athletics coverage during a spectacular season. The 20-year-old from Orpington is the fastest British woman in history, She picked up her first senior title in July when she became European Women’s 200m champion and is about to head off to her first Olympic Games.

A co m b i n a t i o n o f u nw ave ri n g commitment and boundless optimism, Asher-Smith, who tr a i ns wit h t he Blackheath and Bromley Harriers, is even hopeful about t he f ut ure of athletics as a clean sport, at a time when many are struggling to believe t hat doping c an be st amped out . “Everybody gets all this doom and gloom but it’s getting sorted,” says Asher-Smith. “I’m a really naturally positive person and we’re getting there. It’s progression. If there was nothing happening we’d be in the same rut. And as a co mp et i t o r I love to run, I absolutely love running. What attracted me to the sport is the adrenaline rush you get when you compete and that’s always gonna be there for me.”

Our interview takes place just hours bef ore t he I nt e r nat i onal Oly mpic C o mmi tt e e (IOC) announced its decision not to issue a blanket ban on Russia sending a team to Rio, instead o pt i ng t o al l ow i ndiv i du a l s por t s federations to come to their own conclusions on an athlete by athlete basis. But for track and field specifically, the question of Russia competing has already been answered.

I n No v e mb e r the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended the country after a re por t by th e Worl d Ant i - Dopi ng Agency (Wada) revealed a widespread programme of state-sponsored doping. Although the Russian Olympic Committee appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the ban was upheld on July 21 for 67 of the 68 athletes involved, meaning former stars such as two-time Olympic polevaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva will not be defending their titles.

Asher-Smith is supportive of the hardline stance: “I work incredibly hard. I balance doing a full-time degree at uni — I mean, I wrote 30,000 words in 20 weeks — with trying to juggle competing in the indoor season and training five days a week. I do it all clean, so it’s quite disappointing to think that people are taking shortcuts. That’s why I welcome the sanctions. I think we should protect clean athletes and should protect clean sport at all costs.”

The fact that she is a full-time student — she has just finished her second year at King’s College London studying history — as well as one of Britain’s brightest track and field hopes, has captured her legions of fans impressed by her obvious dedication and talent, a nd ea r ned her a prof il e i n The Gentlewoman, the thinking woman’s fashion bible.

When we meet, Asher-Smith is still reeling from her Briti sh record-breaking performance in the Anniversary Games on Friday night. She ran a world-leading time of 41.82 seconds in the 4x100m relay in the Olympic Stadium with her team-mates Asha Philip, Desiree Henry and Daryll Neita.

“When we were warming up we had a good feeling that we were in shape individually but when the race was going, I just kept thinking: ‘Please don’t mess up, please don’t mess up. Just get the baton to Daryll safely’.”

Getting things right is important to Asher-Smith. She talks about essaywriting with the same meticulousness as she does racing: “Naturally I always want to try to be the best at everything ... I’m a proper perfectionist. I’m one of those people who writes a sentence and thinks ‘I don’t like that word’ — and it takes me 40 minutes to finish the sentence and I’m like: ‘Oh my God, it’s due in three hours’.” HE odd all-nighter and balancing six modules this year, covering topics from Aristotle and Plato to Chinese communism to the Obama administration, means AsherSmith is quick to answer the question of whether rac ing or uni i s more stressful: “Uni, definitely.”

With term over for the summer and Rio just weeks away, if she is starting to feel the podium pressure it doesn’t show. Parading through Regent Street t hi s weekend a t Ni ke’s Unli mit e d London send-off parade for athletes