Dina Asher-Smith collects MBE from ‘funny and really charming' King
Asher-Smith, Britain's fastest female sprinter, is looking to compete in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships in September but the 'hard work' towards that competition is still being done now.
The 29-year-old made a special trip from her training base in Texas to collect the MBE from the King at a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.
Looking at her medal, she said: 'For me, it is a very powerful emblem of what you do on the track, being inspiring to other people and also having repercussions and positive influence far beyond the world of sport.
'When I started running, I just wanted to run faster. I did not imagine it would take me here.
'I didn't imagine it would take me to the Olympic Games or get me records or anything like that.
'I think it is just testament to the power of sport, the power of working hard, staying focused and dedicated.
'As with all of the recipients here today, it is about the power of hard work and it is nice to be celebrated for your great work.'
Asher-Smith, who is originally from Orpington, Kent, added: 'It means a lot to be recognised by your country in this way.
'It is a great setting, a stunning castle and the King is really funny and really charming, so it has been a great day.
'He (the King) was very much amazed that I flew over from Texas to get this but I said 'Of course, you invited me so I wasn't going to miss this and this is such an honour'.'
Asher-Smith said she was 'really excited' to be opening her outdoor season with a 4x400m relay race on Sunday in Austin, Texas.
She added: 'We have quite a lot of time to build into our season. I am in Jamaica next week to run there.
'I am definitely in a great place (for the World Championships). I'm really excited for the season. I am excited to kickstart my outdoor season this weekend.'
Asher-Smith was left cursing herself after failing to reach the 100m final at the Olympics in Paris but followed it with strong late-season form at the Diamond League where she took the fight to new sprint queens including Julien Alfred and Sha'Carri Richardson of the US.
It included clocking a season's best 10.88 seconds to triumph in Switzerland, just shy of her 10.83secs British record.
Asher-Smith started breaking records at a young age, running a world-best 39.16 in the 300m aged just 13.
From working as a kit-bag carrier at the London 2012 Olympics, she enjoyed a successful appearance at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where she finished fifth in the 200m and won bronze as part of the 4x100m relay.
Asher-Smith won 4x100m silver in the London Stadium at the 2017 World Championships, despite breaking her foot five months earlier.
Victory in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin made her the first British woman to achieve this sprint treble at a major championships.
She won the 200m at the 2019 World Championships, along with a silver in the 100m.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Tommy Fleetwood shows true colours with immediate response to losing £1.8m
After Tommy Fleetwood suffered another disappointing end to a weekend of golf, this time at the St. Jude Championship, the British star offered a glimpse into his true personality Tommy Fleetwood pledged to focus on the positives after his drought extended to an incredible 162 PGA Tour events without a victory. The 34-year-old finished tied for third with Scottie Scheffler at the St. Jude Championship, one shot behind eventual winner Justin Rose, who pipped J. J. Spaun in a tense play-off. At TPC Southwind, Fleetwood shot to the top of the leaderboard with opening rounds of 63 and 64. He kept himself in the mix with back-to-back 69s and still looked on course to win in Memphis. He would go on to birdie three of his last seven holes, but his bogey on the 17th gave Spaun and Rose an opportunity to overtake, which they both did. While it was not quite as devastating as his collapse at the Travelers Championship earlier this year, where he led the final round by three shots only to let his lead slip and lose to Keegan Bradley, his ill-timed bogey in Memphis ultimately cost him the chance of taking home an extra £1.8million in prize money. However, Fleetwood showed his true colours in his post-tournament interview, where he did his best to remain positive and humble in the face of disappointment. When asked how he feels, he replied: "I don't know really. I don't know yet. "I don't know yet, I'm obviously going to be disappointed. I said it last time, there's a lot of positives to take, as much as I won't really feel like that right now. "I'm just going to look at what I feel I could have done and how close it was. But, we move on, there's another week next week and I've just got to reflect on today, keep pushing forward and try and put myself in that position again." When reporters pushed him on the crowd cheering for him throughout the weekend, he laughed, before replying: "As long as they all stay with me and stay on my side, then we can all look for the positives. I'm lucky with the support I get. "I haven't been in contention much this year and then at Travelers I was obviously leading and I feel like it was a great atmosphere and I enjoyed playing in that atmosphere. Today I got the crowd on my side. "I love their support, I am so appreciative of it and on this journey together here. You have to keep all these experiences and these close calls. There's no point in allowing them to have a negative effect on what happens next. "It has been a great week, I did a ton of good stuff and as disappointed as I am, I have to find the strength to make it all a positive experience and hopefully next time, put myself in that positive position again.' While Fleetwood missed out on the £2.67m winnings for first prize, he did still manage to walk away with a cheque for £860,000. However, considering he is yet to register a victory on the PGA Tour, a win would have been priceless for Fleetwood. He will be involved in the next FedEx Cup play-off event, the BMW Championship, which begins on August 14 at Caves Valley in Baltimore.
Daily Record
12 hours ago
- Daily Record
Nicola Adams admits one huge reason she split from girlfriend as she discusses co-parenting
The former professional boxer has opened up on one thing that had a big 'impact' on their relationship as she explained how they are navigating co-parenting their young son. Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams has confessed that her ex-girlfriend Ella Baig's career on an adult website put a strain on their relationship as she opens up on their 'difficult' split and navigating co-parenting their son. Nicola, 42, who was the first British woman to secure an Olympic gold medal in the ring at the 2012 Olympics, ended her relationship with 27-year-old Ella at the beginning of the year after seven years together. The former couple reportedly struggled through the nature of Ella's OnlyFans career. Nicola and Ella first started dating in 2018 after they met on a night out. After several years into their romance, they decided they wanted to become parents and chose to use fertility treatments. Ella gave birth to their son Taylor in July 2022 via caesarean section. Since their split earlier this year, Nicola has admitted that Ella's OnlyFans career did have a negative impact on their relationship, the Mirror reports. Speaking to the Daily Mail, the former professional boxer said: 'I have always been incredibly supportive of Ella's career and the choices she has made, including her work on OnlyFans. "However, as much as I respect what she does, I can't deny that it has had an impact on our relationship.' She also opened up about how the difficulties of going through a breakup in the public eye but insisted they are managing to co-parent pretty well. She added: 'Co-parenting has been really good, because our son's always at the top of it. It's always difficult doing breakups, especially when you're in the public eye - and it's not something that you always you want to be public. "But I guess once you've been [in the public eye] it always ends up being that way... but we've navigated that quite well. 'I've always believed in handling things with respect and maturity, and we shared a lot of good memories together, and I'll always be grateful for the good times. "And I guess the main thing is our son now, and we see ourselves as, like, pretty good co-parents. I think... I feel like we've got good co-parenting girls here. I'm just happy that he's happy, and it hasn't really affected him that much.' It comes after Nicola lifted the lid on her new career move as she revealed that she has been taking acting lessons and is now set to make her acting debut in a film next year. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. Nicola is set to star in The Gun on Second Street alongside Poppy Delevigne and Bruce Willis' daughter Rumer. In addition to her upcoming film, Nicola is also starring in a BBC children's show titled High Hoops, which is due for release in November. The former boxer retired from boxing with an undefeated record and held the World Boxing Organization female flyweight title in 2019.
Daily Mirror
12 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Arne Slot delivers Liverpool warning as Hugo Ekitike comments speak volumes
Liverpool's Dutch coach Arne Slot wants to see his team improve in defence after the Reds' defeat to Crystal Palace via a penalty shootout in the Community Shield at Wembley Arne Slot warned Liverpool need to be better defensively if they're to reign as kings of England again this season. The Reds lost a penalty shootout to Crystal Palace yesterday after the Eagles came from behind twice to peg back Slot's Premier League champions in the season's curtain-raiser. Liverpool have splashed the cash this summer with £295m spent on new recruits with more to come - and could even move for Palace defender Marc Guehi. But Slot was not happy with how they've defended during pre-season ahead of their campaign kicking off next Friday. He said: "We have conceded four against Milan, one against the Japanese team, two against Bilbao and two again today. What made us really strong last season was we mostly won by a goal or a margin of one goal. That had mostly to do with us keeping a clean sheet or at a maximum conceding one goal." Liverpool are likely to sign a centre-back with Guehi one target while they're also prepared to smash the British transfer record to land Alexander Isak up front. Summer signing Hugo Ekitike did score but after selling Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, Slot feels they're short of options up front. He said: 'There is not a lot to replace him [Ekitike] with, so if he gets an injury there would not be much to replace him with for Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal so that's why I took him off but he had a good game, that's for sure.' Liverpool and Palace paid tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva after they were killed in a car crash last month before the game. But the minute's silence was cut short after a small number of Palace fans made noise and then their fellow supporters and the Liverpool crowd tried to shush them. Reds captain Virgil van Dijk said: 'I'm disappointed. There was plenty trying to sushhh it down, but obviously that doesn't help them. It is what it is. You can't control all those fans. "80,000 people, so yeah, it's disappointing to hear that. But if those persons can go home and be happy with themselves, then..' Slot had a more considered view of the incident. He added: 'I don't think this was planned or it was the idea of the fan that made some noise. Maybe he wasn't aware that it was a minute of silence. He was just still happy and tried to cheer for his team. 'Then the fans of Palace were trying to calm that person or those persons down. I don't think he had a bad intention of the guy or people that made noise." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
