On this day in 2018: Record-breaking Dina Asher-Smith defends 200m title
The sprinter became the first Briton to win the 100m, 200m and 4×100 metres at a major championships.
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Your support makes all the difference.On this day in 2018, Dina Asher-Smith defended her 200m title as part of a record-breaking performance at the European Championships in Berlin.
A 22-year-old Asher-Smith followed up her 100m victory from earlier in the week with a world-leading time of 21.89 which broke her own British record by 0.16 seconds.
The sprinter edged out reigning world 200m champion Dafne Schippers, who finished second in 22.14 ahead of her Holland team-mate Jamile Samuel, for glory at the Olympic Stadium.
The Briton said after the race: “I knew I had to go like a bat out of hell because she (Schippers) is coming for me and there was no way she was going to let me win this.
“I had the fear of God inside me. It was over in a blur and I was just full of happiness and relief because it is a bit daunting going in as the reigning champion with a gold bib.”
A day after her 200m success, Asher-Smith became the first Briton ever to win all three titles at a major championships when she anchored the team of Asha Philip, Imani Lansiquot and Bianca Williams to victory in the 4×100 metres.
It was only a start of things to come for Asher-Smith, who a year later won the 200m World Championship title in Doha.
However, this summer’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics proved a mixed one for the sprinter.
The 25-year-old helped Team GB win 4x100m bronze but saw her hopes of individual success wrecked by the serious hamstring injury she suffered at the British trials in June.
She failed to reach the 100m final in Japan after running a time of 11.05secs – well below her 10.83s personal best – and then pulled out of the 200m.