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Dina Asher-Smith has entered a transformative phase in her career, bouncing back from Olympic disappointment with renewed confidence and strong performances.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith says she is entering a "new era" in her career, expressing confidence that she can achieve more than she ever imagined after her bittersweet experience at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 28-year-old, known as Britain’s fastest woman, faced a crushing disappointment when she failed to qualify for the 100m final at the Olympics in August.
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12:05 - 10.10.2024
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Dina Asher-Smith reflects on her deep bond with ex-coach John Blackie after moving to Austin for a fresh start.
Despite that heartbreak, Asher-Smith bounced back impressively, narrowly missing out on a medal in the 200m by just two-hundredths of a second and securing a silver medal in the 4x100m relay.
"For me, this was year one," Asher-Smith shared during an appearance on the BBC's Headliners show.
"Even though, ultimately, it is the end of an Olympic cycle, it's actually year one. And, for year one, overall it's been pretty good - minus one day."
After the Paris Games, Asher-Smith reflected on what has been a transformative year. In 2024, she took a bold step by changing her coaching set-up for the first time in nearly two decades, moving from the UK to the United States to train with renowned coach Edrick Floreal in Austin, Texas.
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The shift has already begun to pay off, marking the start of what she calls a "new era" in her sprinting career.
The move came after a challenging 2023 season, in which Asher-Smith struggled at the World Championships, finishing eighth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.
The disappointing results prompted her to end her 19-year partnership with childhood coach John Blackie, a decision that led to her training alongside elite athletes like St Lucia’s Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred and Ireland’s rising star Rhasidat Adeleke.
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17:41 - 08.10.2024
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Asher-Smith believes that her best is yet to come. She claimed European 100m gold in Rome earlier this year, her first major international title in five years, and set her fastest 200m time in two years at the London Diamond League event in July.
However, despite these promising performances, she was devastated when she could not deliver the race she had hoped for at the Paris Olympics.
The morning after her semi-final exit in the 100m, Asher-Smith had to excuse herself from a track-side interview, still raw from the disappointment of the previous night.
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Yet, she quickly refocused her energy on the 200m event, determined not to let her earlier result cloud the rest of her Olympic journey.
"I was very upset [but] I was determined not to let my disappointment in the 100m affect my performance in the 200m," she said.
"My job in that moment was to put my best performance together for the 200m and I just knew I had to remove myself from that situation to put myself in the best mental head space."
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12:00 - 11.10.2024
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Asher-Smith explained that the source of her 100m disappointment came down to running with "too much tension," a mistake she believes she has learned from.
Looking ahead, she is optimistic about the future, confident that the next Olympic cycle will bring "great times and success."
In the weeks following Paris, Asher-Smith ended her season on a high.
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08:33 - 10.10.2024
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She won at the Diamond League event in Lausanne with a season’s best of 10.88 seconds, followed by a strong showing in Zurich, clocking 10.89 seconds, and finishing runner-up at the Diamond League final in Brussels, only behind her training partner Alfred.
Far from being defined by her Paris disappointment, Dina Asher-Smith is embracing this "new era" fully prepared to achieve even more in the next chapter of her career.
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