Tokyo 2020 - 'We have another level' - Dina Asher-Smith 'feels great' after Great Britain set 4x100m national record
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Updated 05/08/2021 at 03:29 GMT
Eurosport and discovery+ expert Greg Rutherford believes that the women's 4x100 metres relay may represent Team GB's best shot at a gold medal on the track after an outstanding run from the British quartet in the heats at the Olympic Stadium. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+.
'We have another level' - Asher-Smith 'feels great' after Great Britain set national record
Dina Asher-Smith believes Great Britain's 4x100 metres relay quartet can go to "another level" in Friday's final.
Asher-Smith ran the third leg as the British team set a new national record to qualify fastest for the final ahead of favourites Jamaica and the USA.
It was a welcome return to the track for Asher-Smith, who was forced to pull out of the 200 metres after struggling with a hamstring injury.
The 25-year-old revealed that an early start may even have hampered the quartet, which also included Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Darryl Neita.
"We are feeling incredibly confident going into the next round," said Asher-Smith to Eurosport and discovery+ expert Greg Rutherford.
"We know that we have got another level when we are not up at four or five am!
"It's going to be so exciting to come out here tomorrow night and put on a great show."
It had been a slight surprise when Asher-Smith was named on the start list for the relay heats, with Rutherford revealing he thought she would be preserved for the final.
However Great Britain chose to load their quartet with their four fastest women, including three of the unit that won silver at the 2019 World Championships.
"I feel great. I did tell you I was going to be here for the relays," Asher-Smith revealed to Rutherford.
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Lansiquot ran the crucial second leg and handed the baton over to Asher-Smith, and had full confidence in her teammate even after injury.
"It felt absolutely rapid. I have so much trust in these girls.
"I knew Dina was going to get off and I was so excited to push as hard as I could into her. It's hot but we are so ready."
Rutherford: It could be a fairytale end
Eurosport and discovery+ expert Rutherford may have been surprised by Asher-Smith's presence in the preliminary round, but the former long jump gold medallist was incredibly impressed by the performance from the Team GB quartet.
While Jamaica will bring the individual gold and silver medallists (Elaine Thompson Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) into their team for the final, Rutherford believes that the women's 4x100m relay may represent Great Britain's best chance at a track gold at Tokyo 2020.
"It was just slick," Rutherford explained.
"That's what you want in the relay, you want a slick, well-drilled team, and that is exactly what they were.
"I'm excited about this team. I don't think they have had a lot of time to practice since they have been out here, so to see them run that well and that well-drilled is really exciting
"I look at it and think could this maybe be the place where we get our gold medal on the track? You have the issue that the Jamaicans will come out with a full-strength team, but I've got a feeling. Maybe a dropped baton, or something happens - there is always drama in the Olympic Stadium!
"As long as the Brits can get that baton round as well as they did, and maybe slightly faster, it could be a fairytale end."
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