Two down, one to go. On an evening where the westerlies carried the first hints of autumn Dina Asher-Smith lit up the Olympiastadion with a scalding display of power and poise to add the European Championships 200m title to the 100m gold from earlier in the week.
The 22-year-old’s time of 21.89 not only smashed her own British record by 0.16 sec but it left the reigning world 200m champion, Dafne Schippers, trailing in her wake. Now the recent history graduate is close to creating her own legacy by becoming the first Briton to win a treble of golds at the same major championships.
To complete the set she just needs her 4x100m teammates to get the baton round on Sunday night without undue stress or trauma and a golden history will be hers.
“I have obliterated my own expectations,” Asher-Smith said after her 200m performance, understandably beaming from ear to ear. “I told myself loosely this year that I wanted to run a 10.8 for the 100m – I had a joke with my physio that if I ran a 10.85 I would buy myself a cute necklace that I have been eyeing up that is a bit expensive.
“The other day I was like: ‘Oh no I might have to buy it and it is expensive.’ Coming into the 200m I didn’t have a time in my head because I didn’t know how tired I would be and it is a bit cold. I just wanted to win.”
But she did so much more than that. She knew that being drawn on the outside of Schippers in lane five made her a target for the Dutchwoman. So she made sure that she started like an adrenalised greyhound, tearing away from her blocks to establish a 10-metre lead in the opening half of the race.
Schippers then finished like a train to take silver in 22.14 but Asher-Smith was long, long, long gone.
“If I am honest I am still in a haze,” added Asher-Smith. “I was just thinking: ‘Get out there, you are a double world champion inside you, run, maintain form,’ all those coaching tips. I knew I had to go like a bat out of hell because she is coming for me and there was no way she was going to let me win this. I had the fear of God inside me.
“It was over in a blur and I was just full of happiness and relief.”
However, while Schippers praised her rival, calling her “world-class”, she also offered a word of warning. “She is running really good times but next year is a different year,” she said. “For a lot of people this is an off year, so in 2019 we’ll see how it goes.”
Another Dutch athlete, Jamile Samuel, took bronze in 22.37 while Britain’s other finalists, Bianca Williams and Beth Dobbin, were sixth and seventh respectively.
There were three other medals for Britain on the penultimate day of these championships including Shara Proctor winning bronze after an enthralling women’s long jump and two more in the 4x400m relay.
When the smoke had cleared, Proctor’s best leap of 6.70m was just five centimetres behind the German gold medallist, Malaika Mihambo. However the Ukrainian Maryna Bekh produced a last round effort of 6.73m to leap above Proctor and take silver.
“I came away with a medal but I’m not happy with a bronze,” said Proctor.”
Jazmin Sawyers was even more gutted after slipping out of the medals in the final round. “I’ve never been fourth, and it is as bad as they say,” she admitted.
Britain’s third athlete in the final, Lorraine Ugen, who holds the world lead of 7.05m, could manage only 6.45m and finished ninth.
There was a British silver medal in the men’s 4x400m after Martyn Rooney produced a storming last lap of 44.3sec to move his team from fourth to second. However, as Spain’s Bruno Hortelano tied up in the final 100m, Belgium’s Jonathan Borlee - one of three Borlees in the team - charged past him to take gold in 2min 59.47sec.
Britain’s quartet of Rabah Yousif, Dwayne Cowan, Matt Hudson-Smith and Rooney were just under a second further back, with Spain taking the bronze.
Hudson-Smith said: “I had the worst night’s sleep of my life. I got to the track and said: ‘Give me deep heat.’ But this man – Rooney – did the job. He’s the boss, isn’t he?”
In the women’s 4x400m relay Britain’s team of Zoey Clarke, Anyika Onuora, Amy Allcock and Eilidh Doyle earned bronze behind Poland and France after a brilliant final leg from the specialist hurdler Doyle.
Britain now have 13 medals in these championships and will hope for at least three more on Sunday’s final day, with Laura Muir a piping hot favourite in the 1500m and both men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams also expected to win gold.
