Dina Asher-Smith exclusive: The 'pinnacle' of Olympic gold and how Super Saturday 'changed my perspective'
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 26/07/2023 at 07:13 GMT
Dina Asher-Smith has recalled being trackside for Super Saturday at the 2012 Olympics in London and explained why it remains her favourite memory - and one that altered her perspective on what is possible as an athlete. The British sprinter, who will be among those bidding for glory at Paris 2024, has taken on a new role as a Eurosport ambassador ahead of the greatest show on earth.
Dina and Super Saturday
Image credit: Eurosport
British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith says Olympic gold is the "pinnacle of our sport” ahead of Paris 2024 and described Super Saturday in London as a moment that changed her perspective.
The 27-year-old, who is among the British athletes dreaming of a medal in the French capital next year, has taken on a new role as a Eurosport ambassador.
Asher-Smith is aiming to compete at her third Olympics in Paris, after winning bronze in the 4x100m relay in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eurosport to mark one year until the Games open in the French capital, Asher-Smith explained the impact that the biggest event in sport had on her growing up.
“As an athlete, it means everything. It's the thing that you've been dreaming about since you were a young child,” she said.
“You decided, I want to try and absolutely go for it, be one of the best in the world. I want to be the Olympic champion. I want to go to the Olympic Games.
“For us, it's the pinnacle of our sport. Doing well at the Olympics is the biggest thing that you can do as a sportsperson.
“I'm entirely biased, but I think Olympic gold is the one that everybody wants, the one that means the most.”
Asher-Smith clocked her best time of the season in the 100 metres as she came second at the Diamond League meet in London on Sunday.
She boasts a decorated career, winning the 200m world title in 2019, four European Championship golds and setting British records in both 100m and 200m.
And the Londoner can trace some of her success back to watching Super Saturday at London 2012, when the gold medals kept coming for Team GB on an extraordinary day for British athletics.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/03/28/2800446-57773930-2560-1440.jpg)
Greg Rutherford, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah - London 2012
Image credit: Getty Images
“I think my favourite memory would be Super Saturday in 2012. I was a pro at that point, I just signed my first Nike deal,” said Asher-Smith.
“But I was a bit young, I wasn't eligible for the London Olympics - we were kit carrying to help. And at first, when we got to Super Saturday, we were a bit upset that we weren't going to be trackside for Usain Bolt.
“But we absolutely hit the jackpot. We got Jess [Ennis-Hill], Greg [Rutherford] and Mo [Farah] winning their Olympic gold. And as a Brit and being in that stadium at that time, it was something that I don't think is ever going to be replicated.
“I can't see any other country in track and field replicating that environment [from] that day, because for the home team to win three golds within the space of 10 minutes, and the noise and the emotion of the crowd, [it] was something that I personally had never experienced at that point and I still have not experienced again.
“Despite having competed around the world, and being trackside for many a world record, I’ve never replicated it.
“It was the intensity of emotion from the spectators that also changed my perspective on my own career and my own goals, because I always wanted to be the best in the world.
“You spend so much time training and it's a very individual sport, it's a very self-motivated thing. But when you see how you take your talent and do the absolute most that you can with it, and you see how that affects other people and the moments that it gives them, I realised that I have a bit of a gift in a way.
“I can make people really happy and really give them some core life memories by just being successful in my own goal. And I think that's a unique thing that entertainers have. So that's definitely my favourite Olympic memory.”
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement