31st July, 2021
Dina Asher-Smith’s Olympics appear to be over after she indicated on Saturday she would withdraw from the 200 meters following her failure to qualify for the 100m final.
The 25-year-old was expected to challenge for a medal but finished third in her semi-final to crash out in Tokyo.
She subsequently revealed how the hamstring injury she suffered last month had hampered her preparations.
“I think I am likely to pull out of the 200,” a tearful Asher-Smith, the 200m world champion, said. “I am going to pull out. John (Blackie my coach) has told me it’s a ‘no’.”
The Londoner had been tipped to become the first British woman to take an individual sprint medal since Dorothy Hyman in 1960.
“There are plenty more championships for me to come and kill. We’re in the middle of a four to five-year cycle, and yes I got a hamstring tear at the most inconvenient time, but it doesn’t really change the fact of the caliber of athlete I actually am,” she added.
“I mean you’ve seen me when I was younger go and pop my hamstring. On the 200 I would do it because that’s the kind of athlete that I am.
“I was the reigning world champion and I was in such good shape, you just know that (becoming) Olympic champion is not too much more of a further step.”
Asher-Smith is also in Britain’s squad for the 4 x 100m relay but it seems unlikely she will now compete.