Dina Asher-Smith helps Team GB set new national record in 4x100m relay heats as they beat USA and Jamaica

Dina Asher-Smith might yet leave Tokyo with a gold medal after all. Having crashed out of the 100 metres semi-finals and withdrawn from the 200m after struggling to recover sufficiently from a torn hamstring, Asher-Smith returned to action to help Britain’s 4x100m team to a national record in Thursday morning’s heats.

That was enough to see them qualify fastest for Friday’s final, almost half a second quicker than the next best team from the United States.

The 41.55sec winning time set by Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Asher-Smith and individual 100m finalist Daryll Neita took 0.22sec off Britain’s previous best set when winning bronze at the Rio Olympics.

“After the 100m I did say there was no way I wasn’t going to be here for the 4x100m girls,” said Asher-Smith, who tore her hamstring at the British Championships. “I only had one day off, then I got back on the training track.

“Essentially, all I need is a few more weeks and sessions. [My coach] was saying if I had a few more days it would have been the 100m final, another week and it would have been 10.8sec.

“It’s one of those things where I’m chasing times. Give me a few more training sessions and I’ll be closer to where I’m used to being. There was no way I wasn’t going to be here.

“It has been a crazy five weeks. It would be absolutely amazing to win a medal, but that is not the thing I think about right now. It is about staying focused.

“That is where my head has been for the past week. It hasn’t been in what happened. It hasn’t been about the 100m or 200m. It has been about me getting back on the training track and making sure I bring my absolute A-game to this race.

“Of course, it would mean incredible things to everybody. We were the bronze medalists in Rio. It would be amazing for us to get another medal again, for all of us, for all of our lives, for all of our individual dreams and aspirations.”

Drawn alongside reigning Olympic champions United States and silver medalists Jamaica, the British quartet knew they faced a tough task to even secure their place in the final. In fact, once the gun fired it never looked in doubt.

Already leading by the time Lansiquot handed the baton to third-leg runner Asher-Smith, the British team continued to pull clear, even allowing Neita to ease down in the second half of her leg.

Jamaica remain gold-medal favourites with Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won 100m gold and silver, due to come into the team for the final, but Britain’s performance will give them huge confidence of making the podium.

“A medal is definitely on the cards for us,” said Philip. “It was a good race, a nice warm-up for us.

“We were up at 4am, on the 6.40am bus and started warming up at 7.30am. All these times we haven’t seen in a while. So it was great for us to come out with that.”

After multiple disasters in the individual sprints, where Adam Gemili tore his hamstring and both Zharnel Hughes and Reece Prescod were disqualified for false starts, the British men's 4x100m quartet look to be on the road to redemption after qualifying second from their semi-final behind Jamaica.

The team of Chijindu Ujah, Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake clocked 38.02 - the fifth fastest time of the semi-finals.

“We are going to win the final,” stated Kilty. “We know what we have got to do to win it. That was safe. There is more in the tank. Easy, easy, no problem at all. We want nothing but gold.”

Continuing their run of dismal performances in Olympic men’s 4x100m relays, the United States failed to even qualify for the final, extending their medal absence to 17 years.

“The USA team did everything wrong,” said American sprint legend Carl Lewis. “The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership. It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable.”