World champion Dina Asher-Smith sends out warning to sprint rivals

Dina Asher-Smith has sounded an ominous warning to her rivals by revealing that her love of sprinting is fuelled by the purest need for speed.

The 200 metres world champion revealed her quest to find her full sprint limits “just never stops” while taking part in an Instagram Live chat with former England Women footballer Alex Scott.

Asher-Smith set a new British record of 21.88 seconds in storming to a World Championships 200m victory in Doha in October, cementing her status as one of the world’s best in doing so.

And now the 24-year-old has conceded she expects to keep on running long after her elite career is at an end.

Asked if she has ever had moments where she considered quitting athletics, Asher-Smith replied: “No, I never thought about quitting, never ever. I run for not just championships; I run just because I want to see how fast I can go, and that journey just never stops.

“I’ll probably still run when I stop being elite, just because of how much I enjoy it.”

In a wide-ranging discussion, Asher-Smith encouraged young girls to stick with sport through their tricky teenage years, saying: “There are so many reasons why young girls drop out, and I’m very passionate about keeping them in sports.

“Lots of people have anxiety when it comes to puberty. Because it’s a time when people are trying to figure themselves out.

“When they look at what they see in the media, and while that’s definitely changed a lot in the last three to four years, there are still many ideas of femininity that are sometimes at odds with the stereotypes of sportswomen.

“And there are pressures from elsewhere that tell them: ‘Is it cool?’ I tell them: ‘Yes it’s cool.’”

PA