Dina Asher-Smith is not an easy lady to get hold of.
For one thing, she has this penchant for tearing around too quickly for mortal man, or woman, to keep up with.
Literally.
I’m talking about the fastest British woman over 100m. Not just this year. Not this century. But ever. Plus, she’s a Nike athlete and given her current capacity as one of GB’s most promising athletes, Dina Asher-Smith is very much in demand when it comes to interview requests. So I bided my time when, earlier this year, she broke the national record to become the first British female to go under eleven seconds, politely took my spot at the back of a journalistic queue populated by the beacons of sports commentary. I talk to Olympians, but I also talk to musicians, dancers, actors, authors, so for sports features I’m probably a little way down the pecking order. Which is fine. And anyway I was happy to wait, because I knew there would be a good feature somewhere down the line – I knew Dina Asher-Smith had personality, an ingredient which brings an interview to life far more effectively than can any literary conjuring. And do you know what? I knew she had personality before I’d exchanged a single word with her.
It was once said of Olympic and X Games snowboard champion Torah Bright that her smile could bring about world peace. While I’d like to have been the one to have coined that lofty plaudit – it befits Dina Asher-Smith as well as any other sports person who comes to mind – perhaps it’s a good thing I didn’t. Because in Dina’s case it would mean selling her short on a full spectrum of facial expressions which in turn can inspire gasps of ‘Oh no!’, ‘Oh yeah!’ or ‘No way!’ Honestly. Take a glance at the Dina Asher-Smith Twitter feed and you’ll see what I mean: hers is a face which prominently and without restraint displays all the emotions, enthusiasms and upsets of the professional athlete. We’re talking much more than just a nice smile here. As I said: personality.
And that, as it so happens, is a timely observation – because Dina has just been nominated for the Sunday Times and Sky Sports Young Sportswoman of the Year 2015. And like the prestigious BBC-affiliated award of similar merit, personality counts. What – it’s about sporting prowess too? Well…we’ve covered the British 100m record, an achievement which saw Dina become the first British woman to cover the distance in sub-eleven seconds; but she’s also the British record holder over 200m and the fastest teenager ever – yes, ever – to cover that distance; and the 2014 World Junior Champion; and the 2013 European Junior Champion; and the European Junior 200m Indoor record holder. Actually that’s not the whole catalogue – I could go on, truly, but I’ll run out space.
Suffice to say, there are a plethora of achievements that most athletes would be happy to squeeze into a lifetime of competition, but at just 19 years of age Dina Asher-Smith has somehow wrestled them in alongside her studies for a university degree.
Which, come to think of it, is a nice place to start: what on earth does a day in the life look like for this unreasonably talented athlete?
“Pretty boring if I’m being honest!” she laughs. “Uni has just started again, so I’ll go to Uni – King’s College London – in the morning for lectures and to do reading and work on assignments, then I will run home to have a quick power nap, eat a snack and then head out to training in the evening. I get home at around 9pm, so then I would eat and relax before I go to bed. Very boring!”
Yes, boring. Still, if she finds the routine tiresome, the fruits of her labours I would suggest are adequate compensation.
“The proudest moment of my career so far,” she replies when I ask her to pick a highlight, “was most probably winning World Juniors in 2014. It was something that my coach, John Blackie, and I had worked towards for the best part of two years so to go and win it was amazing.”
And what about that other achievement – yes, the one that saw her PR team go into overdrive earlier this year?
“It feels great to be the British 100m record holder!” she says. “It also feels a bit weird, because in a way I can’t believe that somehow it happens to be me!”
It is. And I have to say I admire Dina for continuing with her studies when, knowing she has such potential as a sprinter, she must yearn to ditch the books, don the spikes, and expend all of her mental and physical energy on the track. When I ask Dina what inspired in her the urge to run competitively though, I realise I’m being cynical towards the merits of education.
“My friends and primary school teachers funnily enough! At my primary school my friend told me to go to the running club that they had just set up because she thought that I would be good and from there the teachers really encouraged me to take it further. I’m obviously really grateful!”
Past: check. Present: check. How about the future, and a certain event on the sporting calendar coming to Rio de Janeiro next year?
“It would mean so much to become an Olympian next year! Since I was about eight years old, watching the 2004 Athens Olympics, I’ve always wanted to be an Olympian!”
Me too come to think of it. The thing is, given that I was twenty seven, and not eight, when the Athens Olympics came around, I suspect my time has now passed. (Wait: perhaps I can live my Olympic ambitions vicariously through Dina Asher-Smith). In any case this is why my guests, and not I, are the ones to listen to when it comes to the definition of success:
“Success for me,” Dina says, “taking it within the context of Athletics, can obviously be defined in medals and titles, but it’s also going out to a major champs and performing better than you ever have before – as in a personal best time, distance or height. But outside Athletics, I would have to say that I think success is achieving your personal goals – in whatever context that would be.”
Dina Asher-Smith is a lady very much of the moment. Or perhaps in the moment. Living for the now and not for the what-might-be, she counsels a no-holds-barred approach to achieving the aforementioned personal goals.
“I would tell them to just go for it and give it their all! With some things you only have one chance to truly make it count, so I would say don’t hold back and make sure you give it 110%!”
I don’t know about you, but I’m going for a run!
My thanks to Dina for her time and enthusiasm and to Michael Skinner of Pace Sports Management for arranging this interview.
If you’d like to stop by the page for Young Sportswoman of the Year and cast your vote for Dina, you can view the shortlist here.
For the latest news and results, Dina’s website is at www.dinaashersmith.com and you can follow her on Twitter @dinaashersmith and Instagram at /dinaashersmith
Finally, you simply must watch the video of Dina breaking the British record!
Related article: Ester Ledecka’s path to record-breaking success: https://iceatrail.com/ester-ledecka/
Images courtesy of Mark Robinson