Dina Asher-Smith continues good form ahead of European Indoor Championships in March
Dina Asher-Smith maintained her perfect return to international action after a 15-month break with a second 60 metres win in three days with victory in Dusseldorf on Sunday.
Having opted to prepare for the Olympics by taking part in a full indoor season for the first time as a senior athlete, the world 200m champion returned to action in fine fashion on Friday when equalling her personal best 7.08 seconds in Karlsruhe.
That was just 0.02sec away from Asha Philip’s British record, but Asher-Smith was unable to go quite as fast on Sunday, winning her heat in 7.15sec before improving to 7.12sec in the final.
“It was good,” she said. “I’m very happy to have done two solid performances back to back. It has been a while since I have competed so it is good to do that under those time constraints.
“I was really happy with how I started in Karlsruhe. I knew I was in good shape but sometimes it takes me a few meets to get going. So I was happy to come out and perform really well a few days ago.
“Hopefully with a bit more training and a bit more hard work, we can push to faster times.”
Asher-Smith will next compete in Lievin, France, on February 9, as she builds towards the European Indoor Championships in March, for which she will be an overwhelming favourite for gold.
“It will be really exciting,” she said. “I love championships. It is the most fun for me, so it will be really exciting to get out there and perform with heats, semi-finals and a final again.”
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, who last year broke indoor and outdoor pole vault world records, began his 2021 season with a 6.01m clearance to triumph in Dusseldorf. He had one failed attempt at a world record 6.19m before calling it a day.
Meanwhile, Asher-Smith's fellow world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson insists the Olympics remain firmly on the agenda despite revealing she has been in a protective boot for the whole of January due to an Achilles injury and cannot restart training until March.
Johnson-Thompson, who won world heptathlon gold in 2019, said: "At the very end of last year I sustained an injury to my Achilles. As a result of that I have spent the last few weeks in a boot which will be coming off tomorrow.
"My rehab is going as well as could be expected and whilst I am currently at home in Liverpool focusing on my recovery I will be heading back to Montpellier to begin training again in March.
"Understandably this is not the start to the year I was hoping for but I’m pleased to be able to share this off the back of a positive few weeks. This news doesn’t impact my plans for 2021, Tokyo is still very much the focus and I look forward to representing Great Britain in my third Olympic Games."
