‘I had a mental awakening’ – Asher-Smith in ‘new era’

Dina Asher-Smith says she is in a “new era” and can achieve more than she previously thought possible following her 100m heartbreak at Paris 2024.

The 28-year-old, Britain’s fastest woman, failed to reach the Olympic 100m final in August but recovered from that setback to finish two-hundredths of a second away from a medal in the 200m, before winning 4x100m relay silver.

Asher-Smith has undergone significant change in 2024, changing her coaching set-up for the first time and moving to the United States.

“For me, this was year one,” Asher-Smith said on the BBC’s Headliners show.

“Even though, ultimately, it is the end of an Olympic cycle, it’s actually year one. And, for year one, overall it’s been pretty good – minus one day.”

The 2019 world 200m champion is a three-time Olympic relay medallist but had hoped to end her wait for a first individual Olympic medal in Paris, having made a promising start following her move to Austin, Texas.

Following a disappointing 2023 World Championships, where she finished eighth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m, Asher-Smith made the decision to end her 19-year partnership with childhood coach John Blackie.

It led to her move overseas, to be coached by Edrick Floreal, whose world-class training group also includes St Lucia’s Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred and talented Irish 22-year-old Rhasidat Adeleke.

The early signs have been extremely positive.

Asher-Smith claimed European 100m gold in Rome in the lead-up to the Olympics, securing her first major international title for five years, and clocked her fastest 200m time in two years at the London Diamond League event in July.

But the now nine-time global medallist was left devastated after she was unable to translate that form into the performance she craved when it mattered most at the Stade de France.

The morning after her 100m semi-final exit in Paris, Asher-Smith had to remove herself from a track-side interview after coming through her 200m heat, the emotion of the previous night still raw.

“I was very upset [but] I was determined not to let my disappointment in the 100m affect my performance in the 200m,” said Asher-Smith.

“I had my performance hat on. As soon as I felt myself getting upset I had to remove myself from that environment in the most respectful way possible, mainly because I didn’t have time to be upset.

“I was still in the middle of the Olympics. My job in that moment was to put my best performance together for the 200m and I just knew I had to remove myself from that situation to put myself in the best mental head space.”

The cause of her 100m disappointment, Asher-Smith says, was the mistakes she made while preparing for the race, which caused her to run with “too much tension”.

“I believe I have processed it,” Asher-Smith said.

“As an athlete, when people retire they have a different opinion, you will always have different opinions, but I think I’m pretty cool with it and I’m just confident the next cycle is going to be full of great times and success.”

Ultimately, Asher-Smith would not allow her 100m performance to define her Paris experience – and since the Games she has finished the season in strong form.

The Briton won at the Diamond League in Lausanne in a season’s best 10.88 seconds, before clocking 10.89 in Zurich and then finishing runner-up only to training partner Alfred at the Diamond League final in Brussels in September.

Next year – the second of this new chapter in her career – provides an opportunity for Asher-Smith to take her haul of global medals into double figures when the World Athletics Championships take place in Tokyo, Japan.

Crucially, Asher-Smith feels there is much more she wants to achieve on the track, and the six-time European champion believes the “landscape is changing” with regards to how long female athletes feel they can compete.

“There are definitely a lot of things I want to do in life as well, but I think there are still a few things I want to do in athletics,” Asher-Smith said.

“It has been a big year. In Texas, in the sunshine, it’s a new group, new training programme, new race calendar. A new approach to competition and championships.

“That has been the focus of my year, working out what works for me, and it has made me re-evaluate what I can do in this sport and how good I can be.

“I had a mental awakening that I can do more things than I thought was possible.”