Dina Asher-Smith wins British 200m title to seal Rio Olympics berth
By Dev Trehan
Last Updated: 26/06/16 8:12pm
Dina Asher-Smith wept tears of joy after booking her Olympic place with victory in the women's 200m at the British Championships in Birmingham.
Asher-Smith, who was a kit carrier at London 2012, won in 23.11, edging out Desiree Henry by two hundreths of a second.
The 20-year-old said: "There have been moments where I've sat there and thought, 'Can I do it?'
"When it comes to racing I'm very black and white - do a job, go home. But today is really special because it's a life-long dream that I've wanted since I was eight years old.
"All of our hard work at a cold track, all year round has culminated in us going to the Olympics. I'm overwhelmed."
A day after collapsing to the track in despair at only managing third place in the 100m, Henry enjoyed contrasting feelings after booking her 200m spot.
"Yesterday [Saturday] I experienced an emotional meltdown. I was completely disheartened, I didn't believe in myself," she said.
"When I woke up this morning I knew I needed to shake myself off. I'm really proud of myself."
Henry still hopes to double up in Rio and, with Asher-Smith only planning to race over 200m in Brazil, should get a 100m spot too.
Meanwhile, Laura Muir burst away to claim a dominant 1500m victory, with Laura Weightman holding off Charlene Thomas to take the second automatic Olympic spot.
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke beat Lynsey Sharp in the 800m, although both will go to Brazil, while in the long jump Jazmin Sawyers wore the biggest smile of the day after jumping a PB of 6.75m to defeat Shara Proctor. Both are guaranteed Olympic selection.
Steph Twell won the 5,000m to secure her place in Rio where she will be joined by Eilish McColgan who finished behind her in second.
