Tokyo 2020 - ‘Athletics at its most brutal’ – Greg Rutherford reacts to Dina Asher-Smith failing to make final

ByPete Sharland

Updated 31/07/2021 at 13:23 GMT

Many expected Dina Asher-Smith to lift a medal in the 100m in Tokyo but it wasn’t to be as she failed to make it out of her semi-final. Speaking afterwards on Eurosport former gold medal winner Greg Rutherford said it is athletics at its most brutal. But he did have plenty of praise for compatriot Daryll Neita. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+.

Former Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford has said that this is “athletics at its most brutal” after compatriot Dina Asher-Smith failed to make it through to the 100 metres final.

Asher-Smith was one of the main medal hopes for Great Britain and came into the games hoping to challenge the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson for Olympic gold.

But Asher-Smith struggled in her semi-final and was eventually eliminated after hoping to make it through as one of the fastest qualifiers.

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She later revealed that she will not compete in the 200m either, but will still target the 4x100m relay.

Speaking on Eurosport after it was confirmed that Asher-Smith wouldn’t be going through, Rutherford said: “This is athletics at its most brutal. She came here hoping to go away with three medals from this Olympic Games, in the 100, 200 and the 4 by 1, and it wasn’t to be.

'Real struggle' - Nightmare for Asher-Smith as she fails to make 100m final

“I was slightly worried when I was watching her to be honest, there seems to be some form of slight issue with her body.

“She had a hamstring issue coming into the Games, she had to pull out of one of the competitions leading into it, and I fear that maybe that hamstring hasn’t quite recovered as she would have hoped.

• Disaster for Asher-Smith as she misses out on Olympic 100m final

It’s very, very rare to see people pull Dina back, and overtake her.

“We saw it in the qualification but we hoped it was just her easing down. In that semi-final, it just looked like Dina wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders and that’s absolutely gutting.”

One Brit will be in the final though after Daryll Neita made it through thanks to a blistering performance in the final semi-final that saw her make it through as one of the fastest qualifiers.

“The only silver lining we take from it is of course the wonderful Daryll Neita has just made her first Olympic final,” Rutherford added.

“She’s an incredibly lovely human and a fantastic, hard working athlete so to see her re-paid for that really is special.”

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