British women have performed amazingly well over this past week at the Athletics’ World Championships in Qatar, winning two gold medals in a matter of days with more likely to come.
One bright prospect who has outshone them all is 23-year-old Asher-Smith who left her opponents for dust as she won the gold medal in the 200m sprint, becoming the first ever British woman to do so.
Her dominant display throughout the rounds all the way up to her eventual victory in the time of 21.88 seconds has proven Asher-Smith to be an exciting watch and certainly one to look out for come the next Olympic Games.
American sprint legend Michael Johnson praised the world champion, and believes her performance heralds “the beginning of a new era.”
Britain’s former world and Olympic heptathlon champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill also congratulated Asher-Smith and believes she “will win many more medals over the next few years.”
She added: “She has got so much more to come.”
“She had a horrible injury and was fighting to get back and be ready for those championships. She did and she performed very well under those circumstances.”
“She’s such a talent a she’s worked incredibly hard over these past few years to achieve her success.”
The gold in 200m will be the second medal Asher-Smith has won in this competition after coming second in the 100m.
British women also dominated the World Championships in Doha elsewhere, with Johnson-Thompson winning the Heptathlon gold while setting a new British record.
The 26-year-old won with a score of 6,981 points, 304 more than the previous record set by Nafissatou Thiam in 2017.
She said: “This is the result of so many attempts of trying to perform on this stage.”
“It has been such a long road. I am just happy that I’m coming into my best in these two big years.”
Johnson-Thompson’s heptathlon gold medal will be her first in the event, and the third for Britain in the competition after Asher-Smith’s two.
British women are eager to continue their dominant display at this year’s Championships, as Laura Muir finishes the 1500m semi-final comfortably in third to earn a place in this Saturdays final.
Muir who achieved a time of just over four minutes believes “she will take a lot of confidence from how she ran”.
She said: “Everyone talks about the final but you have to get there first.”
“It’s so hard coming back from injury but it gives me a lot of confidence knowing I can run that sort of time feeling comfortable.”
In what was her second race in just three months, Muir finished just behind Jenny Simpson and Gabriela Dubues-Stafford.
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