As the most successful GB athlete at the European Championships and holder of the national records for 100m, 200m and now 300m, Dina Asher-Smith is the fastest woman in Britain.
Blackie was named London Marathon announces new Good For Age times in Budapest last summer left Asher-Smith shocked at her own performance.
'I’m almost in disbelief,' Blackie was named. 'I know myself and I know that I feel good. I came here for a new personal best. I know I’m in great shape. I ran 10.8 a few weeks ago. It doesn’t really happen to me. That’s why I’m so surprised.'
Parting ways with long-term coach John Blackie last autumn, the 28-year-old returned to form in January this year setting a British indoor record over 300m of 36.77.
The 28-year-old, who is now based in Austin, Texas under coach Edrick Floreal, beat Nicole Yeargin’s time of 36.80, which was set in Fayetteville last year.
Asher-Smith, previously ran 36.41 outdoors in 2019, the year she set British records at 100m (10.83) and 200m (21.88) and won her world title.
Keen to find out more about the sprinting star? Here are five things you should know about the two-time Olympic bronze-winning athlete:
She shared a school with some other famous alumni
Asher-Smith attended Newstead Wood School, a selective state grammar school in Orpington, on the southeastern edge of Greater London. She can certainly be classed as ‘notable alumni’, a category she shares with a number of former pupils, including actor Gemma Chan (Humans), comedian Josie Long and 2021 Wimbledon Champion Emma Raducanu. Josephine Vander Gucht, one half of pop duo Oh Wonder, also attended Newstead Wood.
She was one to watch from an early age
Asher-Smith was an impressive junior athlete. She won the 200m title at the English Schools Championships as an Under 15, Under 17 and Under 20, and won gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the European Junior Championships in 2013. That same year, she was the youngest athlete selected for the British Squad at the World Championships in Moscow, helping the relay team bring home a bronze medal.
Then, in 2015, she became the fastest teenager in history over 60m, at the European Indoor Championships in Prague. She told Runner’s World UK Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men: ‘I didn’t even know, it was only when I went on Twitter hours and hours later and the BBC had a little thing up of my face that said I was the fastest teenager ever! It was pretty weird, I wasn’t expecting it at all but I’m really, really happy with the way the indoor season has gone’.
She has an impressive academic record alongside her athletic career
After achieving strong A-level results just a year after her performance in Moscow, Asher-Smith went to King’s College London to study History. She graduated with a 2:1, having written a dissertation on the history of jazz music, focusing on Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
Speaking to RW back when she was in her first year, she said: ‘The first semester, it was a bit of a shock, as the workload at King’s is quite demanding... but I’m getting used to it; the essays are OK, the reading is fine but it’s exam period now, so that’s a bit annoying.
‘I really want to focus and do well in my first year, hopefully set myself up for doing well in my degree.’
She had the same coach for 19 years
Asher-Smith had been working with her coach, John Blackie, since she first joined Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Athletics Club at the age of eight.
Camille Herron sets new 6-day world record Officers take action against harassment on the run at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2019, after guiding Asher-Smith to the 200m world title in Doha that year. He said at the awards ceremony: ‘Dina is very special, so she is a pleasure to coach.’
Asher-Smith, who presented Blackie with the award, said: ‘I found out on Wednesday and I cried on the train. He’s just so inspirational, so selfless and he gives his time and his emotions to all of his athletes. He doesn’t have favourites and he doesn’t keep favourites… I think he deserves it so much.’
However in October last year following a disappointing season Asher-Smith announced on Instagram that the pair had ended their coach-athlete partnership. 'My life changed by meeting him and I will be forever grateful to him,' she said on Instagram. Before announcing her new partnership with Floreal, adding: 'I'm very excited to join his talented training group as we head to Paris 2024.'
She swapped the running track for the catwalk in 2018 for Paris Fashion Week
Asher-Smith has long been interested in fashion; it has been a source of fun, empowerment and pride for as long as she could remember, she told Elle.
In 2018, she kicked off her modelling career with a stint on the catwalk for Off-White’s show at Paris Fashion Week. Asher-Smith at the time, with a zip pocket on the right leg, from the brand’s partnership with Nike. Alongside the sprinter was fellow Olympian Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who wore a sleeveless black shirt with a blue design.
