Dina Asher-Smith and her 94 steps to immortality – The Telegraph

When Dina Asher-Smith lined up for her World Championships 200 metres heat in Eugene in the early hours, it was the first time a British woman has ever defended a global sprint title. She came through comfortably and will race the semi-finals in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Three years ago in Doha, Asher-Smith took just 94 steps to win gold and seal her place in the record books. Before she attempts to repeat the feat, Telegraph Sport spoke to Britains greatest ever 200m runners to analyse how she became world champion.

Before she lined up for the 2019 world 200m final, Asher-Smith was under no illusion that it was her race to lose. The absentee list was so long that even running well below par would have sufficed to claim gold.

As her British sprint team-mate Adam Gemili put it before the race: Its not about if shes going to win it, its about how fast she can go.

Expectation brings about pressure of its own for a young woman who has long seemed destined for greatness. But there are few athletes more intent on success.

Shes always been very focused on what she wants to achieve. Sometimes athletes dont have full belief in themselves but one of the things I realised when I first came across her aged 13 or 14 was her strong family support.

I remember going to give Dina my Olympic medal to try on and her mum said the first medal she tries on needs to be her own. That was telling to me because even though I was coached by Linford Christie, I never asked to see his Olympic gold either. The first I wanted to see was mine.

I knew from a very early stage that she had the right mentality to be successful.

Dinas first 4x100m relay event as part of the British team was at the Anniversary Games in 2013 and that was the first time Id ever met her.

She was 17 and what was so memorable in our first encounter was when you have a newcomer to the team, what usually happens is they can be very overwhelmed.

I was second leg and Dina was first, and we only did one warm-up changeover before the race. In the call room before the race I asked her if she was ok and she just went: Anyika, dont worry Ive got this. Id never heard anything like that from any newcomer into the team!

Ive been in a call room with her many times and shes definitely a calm presence, always relaxed. But she wont have a conversation with any of the other girls especially going into a big race where she is the favourite. She will just focus by herself.

Ive known Dina for a long time and the one thing she has that every sprinter needs is the killer attitude.

Youve got to have that, otherwise at her level youre wasting your time. Very few top-end sprinters dont have it because its the drive to win and be the best.

Shes so happy, smiley and giggly, but put her on the track and the beast is unleashed.

One of the things that has always struck me about Dina is her mental strength and her ability to compete. Shes got that natural ability to be able to step up when it matters.

Dont let her smiley, nice exterior fool you. Underneath is someone who is extremely determined and incredibly competitive. She is the ultimate professional and shes always gone out there with the mentality to win.

I dont have to say anything to Dina before a race. I just leave her to do what she has to do. Before a race she has a plan in place, shes very focused and in the zone.

Although she has made her name on the global stage with victories over the longer sprint distances of 100m and 200m, Asher-Smiths first senior international title was at the European Indoor Championships in 2015 over 60m a distance that hinges almost entirely on getting out of the blocks quickly.

Her start has always been a key element to her races and she has spoken in the past about knowing whether she will win within a few strides of the gun.

Shes already rehearsed the race in her mind many times beforehand to get to this position so once youre in the blocks you just clear your mind and listen for any sound to react to.

Her ability to react and put her technique into play is the difference between a good athlete and a great athlete.

For her, its about gaining an advantage on the athlete outside. Shell feel it working with each stride.

Shes very efficient in her first few steps. Shes got a good knee lift, but crucially her foot lands underneath her, which allows her to engage the right muscles at the right time.

You see a lot of sprinters who will reach out and land just in front of themselves, which provides a slight braking motion. With Dina, each step lands underneath perfectly. You combine that with her natural reactions and thats why she starts so well.

She has an exceptional start it has improved significantly from a young age to where she is now. There are very few 200m athletes who can compete with her start.

Because of her size, shes a high frequency athlete, which helps her at the start. Usain Bolt, for example, is a stride-length runner, whereas Tyson Gay is about high frequency.

Dina is more a frequency-based runner, which suits someone who has a good start.

Her first two steps are incredible. Shes one of the best starters in the world so by the time shes done her first two steps shes already gone a couple of inches up ahead of her rivals. If I was the girl in the lane inside her Id already be shaking!

Aided by the quick turnover of her legs, Asher-Smith has no problem getting up to top speed ahead of her rivals. Her 60m split during her silver medal-winning 100m run at the 2019 World Championships was timed at faster than the indoor 60m world record.

This part of the race tests an athletes ability to go from near stationary to full-on sprinting, while also having to negotiate a curve in the track.

What she does is drive through her angles really well. She doesnt pop up from the blocks, which would mean you lose momentum and have to then get going again.

Shes able to drive upwards step by step, almost like a plane taking off and steadily increasing the angle of elevation.

You gradually start to rise up not just your torso, but also your hips. She does that all so efficiently.

The drive phase is all about generating as much power as you can with high frequency.

Once you come out of the drive phase youre able to turn your legs quicker and by that point she has already closed a yard or so on her rivals, and she hasnt even started running yet.

Youre trying to break the stagger as quickly as you can so you want to go past the runner outside you and then past the next person.

Shes so good at being aggressive for the first 70m or so. Then you can take one breath, which takes about 10-15m, and prepare to attack off the turn.

Youre trying to hit out and drive aggressively with an element of smoothness and finesse. It doesnt take her long before shes at the apex of the turn.

Not every great sprinter can be a successful bend runner some get thrown off course because of the centrifugal force the bend places on their balance, meaning they are unable to hug the inside of their lane to ensure they cover the shortest ground possible.

Asher-Smith has always excelled on the bend, with her excellent balance meaning this is a part of the race she expects to continue gaining ground on her rivals.

Shes really aggressive and attacks the bend. A lot of 100m sprinters feel as though they have to hold something back until the end but if youve trained correctly, you should be able to be aggressive on the turn.

Shes so good at being aggressive for the first 70m or so. Then you can take one breath, which takes about 10-15m, and prepare to attack off the turn.

Everyone knows what Dina is going to do but they cant do anything about it because she is just so good.

Running the bend is a fine art. One of the key things is running right on the inside of the turn, not the outside, because you want to be running 200m exactly, not 201m or more.

Dinas frequency of leg turnover is something that assists her running a turn because with more strides you can navigate a turn easier.

I was always taught to think of visualising the bend like driving: when you learn how to drive, you dont follow a turn, you look beyond a turn. She will be looking further away to ensure she runs beyond the bend.

Dina attacks the first 80m so well. I would get to about 80m, take a deep breath and then relax.

You keep the speed that you have built, but the most important thing is to keep the tension on the outside of your foot. That allows you to get the slingshot effect when you come off the bend.

If you relax too much, you lose that tension and power, and then you have to start again into the straight. What she does so well is to keep applying the pressure around the bend.

Her bends have always been incredible. Its a skill that not everyone has.

You see a lot of athletes start to fall apart at this point, especially after going through the rounds. You have to be so fit to get through the rounds and then deliver in the final.

Coming off the turn, she already knows she is ahead so all she has to do is control the next part of the race.

Since her emergence as a 200m sprinter of global standard, it is almost unheard of for Asher-Smith not to be leading when she comes off the bend in a 200m race.

Even when she has been beaten in recent years by Shaunae Miller-Uibo, her main rival over 200m, Asher-Smith has been in front when entering the home straight.

It is one of the biggest transitional parts of the race that tests an athletes ability to avoid being propelled off course as the track goes from curved to straight.

By this point, the race is hers to win. No disrespect to the other girls, but you can just tell from Dinas step and frequency that she is in total control.

Something that my coaches taught me is to think of coming off the bend as like a slingshot when you come off a turn you have it pulled back as far as it will go and then you release it so it feels freeing.

Dinas transition is just so smooth. Because she has so much control coming off the bend into the home straight she isnt playing catch up. Shes just staying relaxed and in control. It looks so easy for her.

We call this the elastic-band effect because shes run a great turn and when she gets to this point she turns her legs and accelerates away from the field. That throws you down the home straight.

Its like pulling back an elastic band when you let it go, the elastic band flies off and catapults you down the home straight.

Its about getting your body in the right position to control the speed off the bend.

If you try too hard at the end of the bend, the slingshot effect can put your body in the wrong position. Dina is able to set her body in the right position, which enables her to continue the nice cadence and stride length up the straight.

If your bodys not in the right position, youre going to start to tie up near the end.

As she comes off the bend she keeps her hips high, which is the most important thing. Its important to have that hip height as a sprinter so that your body doesnt sink. That gives you the best power bounce.

You dont claw to get that stride length, its the power you get off the track which allows you to increase the stride length. Some other runners will twist or sink their hips, which means they lose speed.

What Dina is good at doing is being able to float out of the turn and have the whiplash into the straight. Theres a surge that carries you further down the straight and she has a natural disposition to do that.

By now, Asher-Smith is accustomed to having a lead and she must stay in front to win gold. While Asher-Smith is by no means slow by any standard of 200m running, this is the part of the race where someone like Miller-Uibo is potentially able to gain ground.

With the body naturally starting to fatigue, it is a question of who can maintain their form in the crunch moment and it is something Asher-Smith has improved over the years by working on her speed endurance.

Dina is a fierce competitor. Aside from her articulate, smart, smiley disposition, when it comes to competing, shes fierce. Theres no messing around and she takes no prisoners. Here, she will sense that shes clear and she will want to maintain her lead.

The big strength that Dina has is her speed endurance. When you have high frequency, what usually happens at this point is your legs start to build with lactic acid and you tail off.

Shes got outstanding speed endurance so she gets out of the turn and is capable of maintaining that speed and cadence right through to the finish line.

Thats got better through the years. When she was a junior there was a lot of leakage in her movements. As shes got stronger everything has become more stable. Her technique has become tidier and cleaner.

What comes with that is you lose your technique later in the race, so she should be able to run a good 400m now if she wanted.

This is about maintaining technique along the straight while starting to fatigue. Everyone will be tiring, even though it looks like Dina isnt.

She has good arm drive, good knee lift and just keeps her body in the same position as when she came off the bend. That helps to keep a nice, balanced stride length. A lot of it is about keeping balance very well.

Shes probably tired at this point, but the adrenaline is kicking in. Shes not going to let anyone or anything get in her way. She barely loses any control at all.

It is at this point that the colour of the medals are decided. As with the first part of the home straight, Asher-Smith will be hoping to maintain her form as much as possible when everyone is naturally decelerating approaching the finish line.

Improving her strength and training over longer distances as she has grown older has meant she can maintain her technique the longer the race goes on.Very few athletes will have been able to keep up with her to this point.

This is all about maintaining your form and not faltering. Keep your high knees, keep your high hips and keep driving those arms back and forth.

Her lower limb is not flicking out too much, at a stage where some of her rivals will be sat back on themselves, which causes them to lose momentum. Dina does a great job of staying on top of herself.

This part of the race is about whether youve done the winter work on speed endurance. It comes from doing 250m, 300m and 350m sets in training, or repetitive 200m sets at 95 per cent.

Dina has always run an exceptional bend and she has fearlessness to attack, but now its about having that adult strength, which has kicked in. Shes a woman now, not a little girl.

She manages to hold form, while the other athletes start to fall off and struggle to maintain intensity.

The hardest bit for the majority of sprinters is being able to maintain your speed in the final 30m and not tie up. At that point you cant find any more speed, so youre just trying to maintain what you have. Shes brilliant at doing that.

If you havent gone past Dina by the last 30m or 40m, theres a strong chance shes winning the race.

Its about lifting the hips and keeping your arms long. If you keep your arms long, your legs will follow. If she were to shorten up her arms, her stride length would get shorter and more fatigue would come.

She is using quality speed endurance. Her arm action, which kept her legs long, is exceptional and she is able to keep relaxed.

Shell have done all the speed endurance work: a little bit of pain in the winter, medals in the summer. Thats the pay off.

I know Dina has done a couple of 400m races during the early part of her career and Id love to see her do more because I know she could be phenomenal, even if shed probably hate it.

You can have all the speed in the world but by the time you get to 150m, the whole race can fall apart if you do not have that strength. Shes prone to a very slight overstriding right at the end but shes usually already clear at that point.

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Dina Asher-Smith and her 94 steps to immortality - The Telegraph