Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith (born 4 December 1995) is a British sprinter internationally active since 2011. In 2019 she was the first British woman to win a World title in a sprint event.
The fastest British woman on record, she won a gold medal in the 200 metres, silver in the 100 metres and another silver in the 4×100m relay at the 2019 World Championships, breaking her own British records with further records which still stand. Aged 24, Asher-Smith was the first Briton to win three medals at a World Championships. She earned a bronze in the 200m at the 2022 World Championships. As part of 4×100m relay teams, she won bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics as well as medals at the 2013, 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Her highest Olympic finish individually was fourth in the 200 metres at the 2024 Games, missing a medal by two-hundredths of a second.
Asher-Smith won the 2013 European Junior 200m title and the 2014 World Junior 100m title. In July 2015, she became the first British woman to run under 11 seconds for the 100m.[1] She then broke Kathy Cook's 31-year-old British 200m record when finishing fifth at the 2015 World Championships. In this distance, she placed fifth at the 2016 Olympics and fourth at the 2017 World Championships. Asher-Smith is also a four-time individual European champion, including the 200m title in 2016 and the 100m/200m double in 2018, and earned a silver for the 200m in 2022 before reclaiming the 100m title in 2024.
Domestically, Asher-Smith has won eight national titles, indoors and out, over 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres as of 2023.
She is the British record holder for the 100m and 200m and the British indoor record holder for the 60m. Asher-Smith has been listed in the Powerlist as one of the UK's most influential people of African-Caribbean descent, most recently in the 2021 edition.[2][3]
Early life and education
Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith was born on 4 December 1995 in Orpington, London. Her parents are Julie, who was born in London, and Winston, who was born in Jamaica but moved to England when he was a child. She has Jamaican and Trinidadian ancestry.[4] She attended Perry Hall Primary School.[5] From 2008 to 2014, she attended Newstead Wood School in Orpington.[6] Asher-Smith achieved 9 A stars and 2 As in her GCSEs.[7] In August 2014, she got 3 A-Levels which allowed her entry into King's College London to study history. Upon receiving the results, she called it "the best morning" of her life.[8][9][10] Asher-Smith graduated with a BA in 2017.[11] She is a supporter of Manchester United F.C.[12]
Asher-Smith was coached by John Blackie until 2023. In 2009, she ran the 300 metres in 39.16 seconds to set the current world age 13 best.[13] She has won the English Schools Championships 200m title as an Under 15 (2010), U17 (2011) and U20 (2013). She won the 2013 event in a time of 23.63s into a strong headwind.[13]
At the 2012 World Junior Championships, Asher-Smith finished seventh in the 200m final in a then personal best time of 23.50 seconds. She said afterwards that "I am elated to have made the final and achieve a PB in the process, and I'm looking ahead to next year in Italy."
In 2013, she earned two gold medals at the European Junior Championships in Rieti, winning the 200m in 23.29s, before joining Yasmin Miller, Steffi Wilson and Desiree Henry to win the 4 × 100m relay and break the UK junior record. The British squad originally finished fourth in the final but were promoted to the bronze medal after the disqualification of the French team. Asher-Smith was shortlisted for the 2013BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.[15]
She took the silver medal for the 60m at the 2015 European Indoor Championships. It was the first time in 30 years that a British female won a medal in the event. In doing so, Asher-Smith equalled Jeanette Kwakye's British record of 7.08s and, being 19 years old, became the fastest ever teenager at 60m.[18] She first broke the British 100 metres record with 11.02s on 24 May in Hengelo, before becoming the first British woman to run a legal time under 11 seconds, with 10.99s on 25 July at the London Anniversary Games. She then finished fifth at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing with a time of 22.07s, a new British record.
On 17 February 2017, Asher-Smith broke her foot in a training accident,[20] but still managed to secure fourth place in the women's 200m[21] and a silver medal as part of the Great Britain 4 × 100m relay later that year at the World Championships in London.
In 2018, she went to Australia early to train and get used to the conditions prior to the Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place in Gold Coast, Queensland in that country. She qualified for the 200m final, and came away with a bronze medal in a time off 22.29 seconds. England ladies, including Asher-Smith, qualified for the 4x100m relay final, where they won gold in a time of 42.46 seconds, beating one of the favorites, Jamaica.[22] At the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, Asher-Smith won both the 100m[23] and 200m metres titles, improving her British records to 10.85 and 21.89 seconds respectively, becoming the first British woman in history to run below 22 seconds for 200 metres, and moving to 22nd on the 200 metres world all-time list (35th at 100m). She won a third gold medal in the 4 × 100m relay.[24] Asher-Smith was named women's European Athlete of the Year for her success in October.[25] She was later hailed by IAAF president Sebastian Coe as the next sprint sensation in athletics.[26]
Asher-Smith won the silver medal in the 100m at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in a new British record of 10.83 seconds, finishing second behind only Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.[27] She was the first female British sprinter to win, over 100m or 200m, an individual medal in the world championships since Kathy Cook in 1983.[27] On 2 October, she became the World Champion in the 200m, setting a personal best and new British record of 22.16 seconds.[28][29]
Going into the 2021 season, Asher-Smith was a strong medal favourite for the short sprints at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Her season was off to a promising start in May when she won the women's 100m final at the Gateshead Diamond League against a world class field, besting athletes such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Blessing Okagbare, Marie-Josée Ta Lou and Sha'Carri Richardson.[30] She followed this up in late June when she won the 100m final at the 2021 British Athletics Championships in a time of 10.97 seconds. The clock had originally reported 10.71 seconds, which would have been a substantial national record, however this was corrected a few minutes later.[31] She came into the Olympics having gained selection in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay, however failed to qualify for the 100m final after placing third in her semifinal in a time of 11.05 seconds, which was not enough to gain a fastest non-automatic qualifying spot. Subsequently, she revealed in an emotional interview that she had actually sustained a hamstring injury during the finals of the British championships, and that she would be pulling out of the 200m.[32] Nevertheless, she managed to return to contribute to the 4 x 100m relay, aiding Great Britain in setting a new national record of 41.55 seconds in their heat, followed by a bronze medal in the final behind Jamaica and the United States. She later bounced back to end her 2021 campaign with season's bests of 10.87[33] seconds and 22.04 seconds[34] towards the end of the Diamond League circuit, the 200m in Brussels and 100m at the final in Zurich.
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships after a season impacted by minor injuries, Asher-Smith finished eighth in the 100m final and seventh in the 200m. In October 2023, she announced that her coaching partnership of 19 years with John Blackie would end. She moved her base to Austin, Texas where she would be guided by Edrick Floreal.[35]
In 2024, Asher-Smith was selected for the British team at the 2024 European Championships, she overcame a slow start to win the gold medal in the 100m with a time of 10.99.[36] After winning the 200 metres gold medal at the 2024 British Athletics Championships, Asher-Smith was subsequently named in the Great Britain team for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[37][38][39] She was eliminated in the semi-final of the 100m having run 11.10 seconds, and she finished fourth in the 200m in 22.22 seconds, narrowly denied the bronze medal by 2019 World Championships silver medallist Brittany Brown. Following the women's 200m final, she told BBC Sport: "I feel good. It's been a long week and I'm proud of that performance. It was a really strong field. All the girls, across them, had so many strengths [...], and I was really proud to have held my own."[40] Despite not winning a medal in an individual event, she won a silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay, with teammates Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita. The team finished in 41.85 seconds.[41] Following the Paris Olympics, Asher-Smith competed in the 100m at the Lausanne Diamond League, winning in a season's best time of 10.88 seconds—a time that would have won her the bronze medal in Paris. Explaining how she refocussed after Paris, she told reporters: "I just took some time for myself, to really think and then just attack the season because I know I'm in great shape -- I'm injury free, thank God -- and track is fun."[42]
Other activities
Asher-Smith has modelled for Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Off-White, and in 2019 had a Barbie created in her likeness.[14] The same year, she made a cameo appearance in the music video for the single "Black" by Dave.[14]
Asher-Smith (R) races in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.Dina Asher-Smith (C) with her gold on the women's 200 m podium at the 2018 European Championships.Asher-Smith celebrates her 200 m victory at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. With her earlier second-place finish in the 100 m it was her greatest career accomplishment.
Kathryn Jane Cook is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist, including at 400 metres in Los Angeles 1984. Her other individual achievements include winning the 200m at the 1981 Universiade, finishing second in the 100m at the 1981 World Cup, and winning a bronze medal in the 200m at the 1983 World Championships. She is also three-times a winner of the British Athletics Writers' Association Female Athlete of the Year Award (1980–82).
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Amy Hunt is a British sprinter who won double gold at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in both the 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She holds the world record for the Women's Under-18 200 metres, set in June 2019 with a time of 22.42s.
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