Saturday, December 15

Dina Asher-Smith to double up at next year’s World Championships

By Nick Mashiter, | 5d
The triple European champion is aiming for gold in the 100m and 200m at Doha.

Dina Asher-Smith will go for double gold at next year’s World Championships.

The triple European champion is planning on running the 100m and 200m in Doha as she steps up her bid for global dominance.

The 23-year-old ran two world leading times in 2018 – 10.85 seconds in the 100m and 21.89s in the 200m – on the way to winning both events in Berlin in August.

And long-time coach John Blackie has confirmed for the first time Asher-Smith, who also took 4x100m gold in Germany, intends to double up again.

He told Press Association Sport: “The intent (in Berlin) was, if we can do two, then maybe come the World Championships, we may go for the double again. British Athletics are not keen on doing two but we are now.

“The summer was a good testing ground. It was the first time we had done two events and it was a deliberate ploy, we wanted to see how well Dina could cope with it.

“There’s no rest day at the Worlds, assuming she gets through to the final of the 100m – two races that day – the 200m starts the following day.

“That is slightly different to anything else we’ve experienced, in Berlin there was a day to allow that recovery. Now it’s hours and we have a bit more of a challenge.

“But British Athletics have a lot of brainpower and they are with us.”

Blackie and Asher-Smith are not planning to begin her season until the opening Diamond League meet in Doha in May to ensure she does not burn out ahead of the World Championships, which starts next September.

She beat 200m world champion Dafne Schippers in every race last season and toppled Olympic champion Elaine Thompson at the Commonwealth Games to win 200m bronze in April.

And Blackie admitted some of Asher-Smith’s rivals are paying closer attention to her now.

“It (a world title) is within her grasp,” said Blackie.

“The fact she recorded the two fastest times in the world means you discount her at your peril. They know that.

“We did see certain things going on where people are trying to psyche her out – I’m not going to go into detail but there were a couple of examples.

“We were aware but treated it with the contempt it deserved, we ignored it. It happens, some cases people don’t know they are doing it, in others it’s a deliberate ploy. We focus on what we are doing.”

Blackie is backing England Athletics’ #gocoach campaign to bring 10,000 new people into athletics and running coaching by 2020.

He has trained Asher-Smith since she was nine and believes prospective coaches need to see the benefits.

“It’s great when you’re working with athletes who have different capabilities and you’re helping them believe in themselves,” he added.

“If people don’t believe themselves they are not going to get anywhere. Helping them do that is great.

“As coaches, we’re on the journey. It’s very rewarding. We want people to join the fraternity, any age and background.

“What they put in will reflect what they get out. If they can only put in a couple of hours a week that’s fine because it’s two more hours than we had before.”



amp_article_343858 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-12-10 12:30:59:
html db last update - 2018-12-15 05:06:05 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Loading ...

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City17142148103844
2Liverpool1613303462842
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs17121430161437
4Chelsea16104233132034
5Arsenal16104235201534
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd167542826226
7Everton176652422224
8Bournemouth177372526-124
9Leicester CityLeicester176562120123
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves176561719-223
11Watford176472023-322
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham166372325-221
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166371922-321
14Cardiff CityCardiff1743101530-1515
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle173591322-914
16Crystal Palace1734101323-1013
17Burnley1734101532-1713
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield1725101027-1711
19Southampton161691330-179
20Fulham1623111640-249
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City17142148103844
2Liverpool1613303462842
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs16120430161436
4Chelsea16104233132034
5Arsenal16104235201534
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd167542826226
7Everton176652422224
8Bournemouth167272526-123
9Leicester CityLeicester166462120122
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves166461719-222
11West Ham UnitedWest Ham166372325-221
12Watford166372023-321
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166371922-321
14Cardiff CityCardiff1642101530-1514
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle163491322-913
16Crystal Palace1633101323-1012
17Burnley1633101532-1712
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield1624101027-1710
19Southampton161691330-179
20Fulham1623111640-249
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.