World Champion Dina Asher-Smith shares her secret to Olympic success

British sprint star Dina Asher-Smith believes winter training is the secret to Tokyo 2020 success

British sprint sensation Dina Asher-Smith has revealed that training during the winter is the secret to summer success at the major events.

In 2019, the 24-year-old had a stellar 12 months after she became the world 200m champion and set a national record.

She also won world championship silver in the 100m and won the blue riband event at a Diamond League meet.

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But despite her success, she is very much focused on her 2020 season, which involves the Tokyo Olympic Games in the summer.

She said: “Quite simply, my coach John (Blackie) and I are firm believers in the philosophy of the work that’s done in the winter will show up in the summer. 

“So, that just means when nobody’s watching, when it’s raining, when it’s maybe snowing, when it’s windy and wet and that’s when you’ve got to put in the work, because whatever you do in the winter months, whatever you do when it’s the winter training or the background season, directly translates to how well you run in the summer.”

Asher-Smith will will be in the mix with the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and potentially Shaunae Miller-Uibo if she competes in the 200m. 

However, the Briton is not letting the Tokyo 2020 pressure get in the way of her training. 

“I actually don’t (feel the pressure) in a really strange way because ironically, in track and field, in order to get faster, in order to keep achieving bigger goals, you have to keep things the same,” she added.

“So even though I had a great season last year, I always have to be here, training six days a week and I have to keep pushing boundaries. I have to keep working harder. It doesn’t matter what happened last year, doesn’t matter what happened the year before that. With track and field you’re only ever as good as your last race.

“I’m really happy obviously to be world champion. It’s a dream that I always had. But at the same time, sometimes I forget, simply because I’m so focused on just being better than I was last year. And just keep going,”

But she is yet to make the claim that she will be going for the Olympic double-sprint title. Instead, she simply wishes to stay ‘injury free’.

 

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