(Video) Dina Asher-Smith clocks 22.26 sec to win 200m in Doha as she starts season in style
As World Championship “dry-runs” go, last night’s 200m Diamond League season-opener in Doha could hardly have gone better for Britain’s sprint queen Dina Asher-Smith.
Leading off the bend, Asher-Smith powered to victory in a time of 22.26 seconds – over six tenths clear of nearest challenger Jamile Samuel, the same girl who finished third behind Asher-Smith at last year’s European Championships.
The 23-year-old ended that meet with three golds – in the 100m and 4x100m relay as well as becoming the first British woman to run under 22 seconds in taking the 200m European title.
And with the World Championships returning to the same Khalifa International Stadium in a little under five months time, there are promising signs of her transferring that dominance to the global stage.
“I was really happy, I didn’t expect that time so early in the season, it’s good, really good, I ran faster than I thought I would.
I really didn’t expect to win against such an accomplished field,” she said.
“It’s always my aim to get out well and maintain my form and run through my phases and I did what my coach told me.
“Especially this early in the season, it’s very easy when you’re not quite race sharp to drift off plan and get distracted by the crowds and stuff like that but I’m happy to have stayed in the zone.”
There was contrasting emotions for teammate Shannon Hylton, however, as she false-started in the same race while Asher-Smith also had the beating of 2014 Commonwealth champion Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor who finished third. (telegraph)
