Dina Asher-Smith, the Team GB star, has dropped out of the Olympic 200m after she failed to make the 100m final in Tokyo today.
In a heartbreaking interview with the BBC she revealed she was suffering with a substantial injury after she tore her hamstring earlier this month at the British Championships, news many were unaware of until today.
‘It’s Tokyo 2020. It’s everything I’ve trained for for like the past two years, but the last few weeks of my athlete life have been absolutely insane,’ she explained. ‘I wanted to come and be completely upfront with everybody on my form, on life and, yeah, just what’s happened.’
‘I think I’m likely to pull out of the 200m,’ she said through tears, ‘right, make sure my blue, is my blue running?’ she joked, referring to her eyeshadow, ‘I might need to pull out. Well, I am going to pull out.’
Echoing some of the refreshing honesty we've seen from other female athletes during this Olympics - including Simone Biles, who decided to step back to protect her mental health - she explained how difficult the last few weeks have been. Many took to social media to share their support for her after she bowed out.
It’s unimaginable to think how hard this decision must be and the amount of strength it takes. Luckily, she’s only 25 and has time on her side. With the next Olympics only three years away, at least we can rest assured we’ll be seeing this champion back on our screens, representing GB, again in no time.
‘I’m really proud to have been able to execute my races here today and I’m really proud of everything I’ve done up to this point,’ she adds, ‘but when you’re talking about the standard that I want to be at and I know I’m capable of [...] there’s plenty more championships for me to come and kill.’
It goes without saying: we’re proud of you, Dina.
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