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Dina Asher-Smith qualifies for 100m semi final

Photo credit: Patrick Smith - Getty Images
Photo credit: Patrick Smith - Getty Images

Dina Asher-Smith has begun her Tokyo 2020 campaign in style, booking a place in the women's 100m semi-final.

The sprinter ran her heat in 11.07 seconds. She was in command for the first half of the race, but American runner Teahna Daniels beat her into second place by a whisker with 11.04.

Some say the women’s 100m is set to be the Tokyo Games’ most exciting sprinting race, given Tokyo 2020 is the first Olympics since Rio not to feature Usain Bolt, while some of the world’s top runners in the distance, like Justin Gatlin, Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, are not taking part in the men’s race.

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Asher-Smith is due to race in the semi-final at 7.15pm local time, 11.15am BST, with the final due to take place later that same evening. If she wins gold, she will be the first British woman in history to do so in an individual sprint event.

The current favourite to win is Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, whose 10.63 run in Kingston this summer was the fastest recorded all season. Also in the mix is her compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah, who has recorded a similarly rapid time of 10.71.

Asher-Smith is a little slower than both, with a season’s best of 10.91, but she has every reason to be regarded as a gold medal contender. The 25-year-old is the fastest British woman in history, a world champion and is currently ranked second in the world at the 100m.

She was an impressive athlete from a young age, becoming the youngest athlete in the British squad for the Moscow World Championships in 2013. In 2015, she became the fastest teenager in history over 60m.

Her coach John Blackie, who she has worked with since she first joined Bromley and Blackheath Harriers at age eight, has travelled with her to Tokyo, according to The Mirror. Blackie won a coaching award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event in 2019. But Asher-Smith’s parents, who have often supported her at events, are unable to attend due to restrictions on spectators at this year’s Games.

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