Dina Asher-Smith says medals are more important than fast times
Tuesday 14 August 2018 11:42, UK
Dina Asher-Smith says her focus remains on winning medals, despite running two world-leading times as she pulled off a stunning individual sprint double at the European Championships
Asher-Smith equalled the fastest time in the world this year as she stormed to 100m gold in 10.85 seconds, before becoming the first woman this year to run under 22 seconds she won the 200m four days later.
The 22-year-old's performance in Berlin has made her one of the favourites for the sprints at next year's World Championships and the 2020 Olympics.
"You never worry about times," Asher-Smith said as she arrived back in London on Monday.
"You never know. It's Europe. It might rain. It might be a hail storm. It might be a massive headwind, so the times might be slow, but if you win you get medals.
"I'm pretty chilled about the next two years because ultimately you don't know what's going to happen."
Asher-Smith made it three gold medals in Berlin as she anchored the British 4 x 100m relay squad to gold - in another world-leading time of 41.88 seconds.
The Londoner's 100m form had been trending toward a big performance at the Europeans as she went beneath the 11-second barrier three times in June.
However, her fastest run in the 200m this year had been a 22.25 at the London Anniversary Games in July, making the 21.89 in Berlin an extremely eye-catching performance.
"I didn't necessarily focus on going in there trying to get a world lead but I did know that I was good shape," said Asher-Smith.
"I didn't want to waste the opportunity because as athletes know, when you're injury-free and you're fit and you're running fast, those times aren't always too common, so you have to go out there and make the most of it."
"At the time I was a little bit disappointed with the equal world lead, but that's just me being a competitor and always wanting to be the best that I can be. It was nice to get an outright one in the 200 - I was happy about that."
Asher-Smith is set to compete in the 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Saturday.
