The back-to-back 200m qualifiers at the Paris Olympics have spoken volumes for Dina Asher-Smith. Yesterday, in the Heats, she took 22.28 seconds to confirm her position for the semis. After the race, she dropped the BBC’s interview midway and left teary-eyed. Today, she held back and crossed the semifinal juggernaut in 22.31 seconds to earn her berth at the final event. However, debates still chased her, as after the semi, she avoided sharing warmth with Gabby Thomas, who had walked to wish her beforehand. So what is going on behind the curtain that is leading the British athlete into a lot of tension? 

One could be her disappointment in not making it into the 100m Olympic final two days ago. But according to a track and field raconteur, the stakes are a lot higher for the 28-year-old. 

Dina Asher-Smith loses a lot more to earn something in the Olympics

In the realm of sports, changing the training facility is not new. But changing the country for the sake of Olympic preparation does not come regularly. In Dina Asher-Smith’s case, this is the new normal. Today, after she moved away from Gabby, track and field enthusiast Owen M shared a lengthy tweet detailing Dina’s journey in the post-Tokyo Olympics phase. He mentioned, “Last year, she made the biggest decision of her career to date, leaving her home in London and starting a new life with a new coaching setup in the USA. She literally moved her entire life to an unfamiliar place, with no family around her, so she could continue her career.” She has yet to get a suitable payback.

Today, she took a lot more than her biggest rival, Gabby Thomas, to cross the finish line. Eventually, she had her chance to settle the score against the American sprinter, who had defeated her at the London Diamond League in July. 

There as well, Dina Asher-Smith couldn’t match her speed with the 200m ace sprinter and missed the chance in the race that had been considered a potential Olympic 200m race ahead of the actual one. Furthermore, it was Dina’s last home game before the Paris Olympics, and she lost it. Her 100m failure is another sad song. 

Dina came to prominence with her runner-up title in the 100m event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. A lot more has happened since then, including her shifting to the USA for coaching. But a similar result has yet to touch her feet. This time, the stakes were high for her, as three years ago, her injury played a role in her failure to make it to the 100m final at the Olympics. But this time, the story remained the same, as she had to leave after her defeat at the semi. The impact is nothing short of devastating. 

The crumbling of expectations is taking a toll on performance 

The BBC correspondent caught Dina Asher-Smith after her 200m Heats at the Paris Olympics. She took a comfortable 22.28 seconds to come in third at the race. Again, she missed the chance to topple Gabby Thomas. But that didn’t make her worry, as she was immersed in another thought, and it was the 100m semi at the Paris Olympics. 

With 10.91 seconds on the leaderboard, she couldn’t claim a place at the marquee event’s final. That left a significant mark on her. It was visible when the BBC correspondent asked her about the tight schedule between the two events. Dina could only add, “I’m very upset,” and left the scene with a voice filled with emotions. Later, she gave a full statement. 

In specifying her mindset, the British athlete said, “I’m just angry from yesterday, to be honest. That’s literally all I can say.” In the meantime, she flaunted a silver line when she said, “I was angry, but coming down the home straight I was like ‘relax, relax’… It’s fast enough and I’m taking it!” That forms the positive part for her, and her fans would want her to capitalize on that in the upcoming final against her American rival. But would that be enough? What do you think?