Dina Asher-Smith: 'I knew I'd won European 100m gold after two steps'

BySportsbeat

Updated 18/10/2018 at 13:47 GMT

Dina Asher-Smith has revealed she knew she was going to win her 100m European Championship crown just two steps into the final.

Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith celebrates after winning the women's 100m final race during the European Athletics Championships at the Olympic stadium in Berlin on August 7, 2018.

Image credit: Getty Images

The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist recorded a joint world leading time in Berlin on the way to scooping gold in 10.85s.

Smashing her own personal best in the process, Asher-Smith set a new British 100m record at the Olympiastadion as she capped off a stellar year that reaped relay gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

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But the Orpington-born sprinter admitted she knew the European sprint title would be hers after making a blistering start to the final, saying:

This is going to sound so bad, I knew I had it from the first two steps. That is the bit where there was the potential to give the race to someone else. If I was looking at seven peoples' backsides at that point, it would have changed the mental map of that race. But I nailed it out of the blocks. I got out ahead of everyone else and I know, as a strong 200m runner, that the second half of the hundred is always going to be strong.

Asher Smith went on to complete a golden double with victory in the 200m.

And the 22-year-old made it three golds at the Championship with a blistering anchor leg to steer GB to 4X100m relay victory.

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