A tearful Asher-Smith revealed the decision to pull out of an event where she is the reigning world champion as she reflected on a tough 100m outing.
The Briton, who took silver in the 100m at Doha 2019 and gold in the 200m, missed out on the final over the shorter distance with a semi time of 11.05 seconds, good enough for only third in her heat.
“Obviously I’m so disappointed to not make the final – it’s Tokyo 2020, everything I’ve trained for for the last two years – but the last few weeks of my athletic life have been absolutely insane,” Asher-Smith told BBC Sport.
She explained she had suffered a hamstring injury in the British Olympic trials final last month, prompting her withdrawal from events in Stockholm and Gateshead.
Asher-Smith expected she would not be able to travel to Tokyo.
“I was actually initially told it was a rupture and I’d need surgery and three to four months to get back,” she said. “It’s been a lot to deal with.
“Quite frankly, with that diagnosis, I couldn’t have come to Tokyo. We had a statement ready to go.
“Thankfully, I went and got a second opinion and it was a misdiagnosis; it wasn’t a rupture, it was a tear, but it was still attached, so we turned over every single stone to make sure I could stand on the line.”
It’s an Olympic final for @daryllneita!
11.00 for Daryll and she’s into the 100m final. @dinaashersmith and @MissAshaPhilip miss out at the semi-final stage.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/Hnb1E980Hd
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 31, 2021
The 25-year-old still was not herself in the 100m, though, and was subsequently forced to make a call on Tuesday’s 200m.
Asher-Smith had been the foremost British hope for a first athletics gold medal in an individual event since Jessica Ennis-Hill’s 2012 heptathlon triumph.
“I am going to pull out of the 200m,” she continued as the tears began. “As reigning world champion, I was in such good shape – you know that the Olympic champion is not much of a further step.
“Because of having three weeks off running, a week running slowly, I’m really proud to have been able to execute today and proud of doing everything I’ve done to this point.
“But when you’re talking about the standard I know I’m capable of, there’s plenty more championships for me to come and kill. We’re in the middle of a four-to-five-year cycle.
“Yes, I’ve got a hamstring tear at the most inconvenient time but it doesn’t change the calibre of athlete that I actually am.
“I know if I want to come and showcase that I need a few more weeks of power training to fill that gap that we had when I was trying to walk again, stretch my knee and trying to load my hamstring.
“John [Blackie, her coach] told me it’s a no [for the 200m]. I would do it, because that’s the kind of athlete that I am, but he’s wiser than me. It’s the Olympics, but there’s another one.”
Of her failure to make the 100m final, Asher-Smith said: “The most frustrating thing for me is that I was in really good shape. I was in the shape of my life.
“If you asked me six weeks ago, I was very confident I was going to win this because, being completely frank, every part of my race – my start, my transition and my finish – was better than some of the fastest women in the world.
“But when you have a hurdle like that, it’s really hard to have a rejig.”
Asher-Smith was part of a British team that took the bronze medal in the 4x100m at Rio 2016, also finishing fifth in the 200m.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
