Dina Asher-Smith struggled to hide her frustration after being eliminated in the women’s 100m semi-final, saying: “I’m shocked.”
The British star had hopes of advancing to the 100m final on Saturday night as she lined up the semi-final race earlier in the evening.
Unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan.
A steady start meant that the 28-year-old struggled to find her way to the front of the pack, finishing the race with a time of 11.01 seconds.
That was only enough to finish fifth in the semi, ruling her out of the women’s 100m final at the Stade de France.
Asher-Smith suffered the same result in Tokyo, although that was a consequence of dealing with a hamstring injury in the lead up to the Games.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Asher-Smith said: “I’m shocked at myself, to be honest because I’m in a great place, in great shape and had absolute confidence that I was going to win my semi.
“I’ve been in a great place so I’m very, very disappointed.
“That being said, it’s onto the 200m which starts tomorrow, so yeah.”
Asher-Smith added: “I’ll have to look back and it and see what I did and didn’t do and then make whatever changes need to be made for the 200m.
“I’m in great shape, a great place, I’m incredibly healthy and I just didn’t expect this from myself, so I’m a bit disappointed.”
The 200m is Asher-Smith’s next opportunity to work towards a medal at Paris 2024 and asked if it was a chance to put the 100m behind her, she said: “Definitely.
“I’m very disappointed because I fully expected to make that final but it’s on to the next event.”
Asher-Smith’s performance was criticised by sprinting legend Michael Johnson, who said: “Look at the start, that’s not typical.
“Her arms are coming out to the side and I noticed that in the early round.
“It just doesn’t look like what we’ve seen from her in the past.
“She’s with a new coach, but I don’t think he would have changed what she was doing before to that.”
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- ‘I’m shocked’ – Dina Asher-Smith struggles to contain frustration after failing to make women’s 100m final
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