Dina Asher-Smith's making history... and now it’s all eyes on London before triple gold bid

Dina Asher-Smith is targeting triple gold at next month’s European Championships and will use this weekend’s Müller Anniversary Games for her final run-out.

The 22-year-old Londoner broke the sub-11-second barrier for the 100m three times last month, smashing her own British record of 10.99sec, which she set in 2015. And the defending European 200metres champion will run her first race over that distance since April at the London Stadium on Sunday to test her ability to sprint for triple gold in Berlin, where she is entered for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

“Wouldn’t that be nice?” she said of the prospect of a triple gold.

“But everybody knows that there’s some amazing and incredibly fast athletes across Europe who definitely have the talent and attributes to win. But obviously I’d love that.”

Asher-Smith’s dream month began with a time of 10.92seconds at the Oslo Diamond League, slashing 0.15sec off her personal best. Three days later, she clocked 10.93sec in Stockholm before being crowned British champion at the trials, crossing the line in 10.97sec.

And such is her quest for perfection, she insisted she had left the event with a pang of disappointment.

“I wanted to go a little bit quicker having run fast in Oslo and Stockholm, Birmingham’s a quick track and conditions were perfect,” she said. “But it was still a Championship record. I just need to improve my start.”

It is a far cry from a year ago when she lined up for the trials having barely recovered from a broken foot, and fit and firing she goes to the Anniversary Games brimming with confidence.

“London Stadium is home for me,” she said of a venue where she was a kit carrier at the 2012 Olympics and then clinched World Championships silver there in the 4x100m relay last year.

“I live in London so it’s special but it means so much to me as a venue as it does to so many British athletes. It’s a place where you always want to put on a good show for the British public.”

Asher-Smith has run four 200m races in 2018, three at the Commonwealth Games where she took bronze in a time of 22.29sec, nearly a quarter of a second away from her personal best.

And, on current form, she can eclipse that time in London. “I need to get a better start to do that,” she insisted. “My reaction time at the trials was 0.2sec, which isn’t sprinting, so first I need to focus on how I’m running my races and getting that right before worrying about times.”

As for which distance is her best, she remains undecided despite the majority of her success coming over half a lap of the track until 2018. However that unfolds, she said: “London’s my last chance to lay down a marker for the Europeans and show what I can do.”

The Müller Anniversary Games will feature the world's biggest athletics stars at the London Stadium on July 21-22. Tickets via britishathletics.org.uk