Dina Asher-Smith might be set to compete at the highest level in the Tokyo Olympics, but she has a surprisingly relaxing start to her day, the Team GB sprinter revealed in a new interview.
Speaking to Women’s Health, Asher-Smith, who won a Bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, shared the details of her daily routine, explaining that she doesn’t like to wake up early.
“I wake up between 9 and 9:30 most days,” she said. “I am definitely not a morning person – I love to sleep. I sleep a lot.
“If there were no alarm and I was left to my own devices, I would wake up at like 10 or 11am. I am a proper heavy sleeper.”
After rising, it’s time to work out, says Asher-Smith. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday normally I’m ready to go – I have gym in the mornings so I’m ready to attack that,” she said.
“But when it gets toward the end of the training week, I definitely have to drag myself out of bed because yeah, it’s hard!”
As for breakfast, it depends on what the 25-year-old athlete has done in terms of exercise that morning.
“Some days I have double sessions, which is both gym and track in the same day,” she said.
“So then I would have something a bit more substantial like porridge, or yoghurt with granola and fruit.
“But some mornings, I’ll just have quite a lot of fruit for breakfast and then have more of a full lunch and dinner.”
If she’s on the road travelling to a tournament, though, it changes.
“Before a competition, I try to stay consistent with maybe an omelette or some eggs with fruit in the morning,” she said.
“But honestly, some competitions you get there and you just don’t know what they’re going to have for breakfast.
“You go to a Scandinavian country and they typically serve lots of cold meats and fishes, then you go to America and they try to give you waffles. I’m like, ‘I can’t eat this before a competition!’”
As for evenings, Asher-Smith explains that competitions tend to take place at night.
“Major finals are normally at about 10pm,” she said.
“So I just try to make sure that my energy is focused towards the night, which means I get to sleep in again. As long as I don’t miss breakfast in the hotel, we’re good.”
