After picking up bronze medals at the last two Olympic Games, British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith is determined to claim gold at Paris 2024. She set out her goals in an exclusive interview after taking on a role as Warner Bros. Discovery Sport Olympic Ambassador. Asher-Smith is also happy to have next year’s event closer to home and even said Paris will feel “like a home Olympics.”
Dina Asher-Smith has set her sights on gold at Paris 2024 and believes the close proximity of the French capital to the UK will make it feel “like a home Olympics”.
The British sprinter, the 2019 world champion over 200m and a two-time Olympic medallist, is among the athletes bidding for glory at the Games next summer.
In the lead-up to the greatest show on earth, Asher-Smith has joined Eurosport in an ambassadorial role and in an exclusive interview made her intentions perfectly clear.
“My personal goals are to win Paris 2024,” said Asher-Smith.
“As long as I run really fast in my own events. I think as a relay team as well, we have the opportunity to win. I really think that the women’s relay, we could do that.”
Asher-Smith was part of the British 4x100m relay team that took bronze in the last two Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
But she is looking forward to competing closer to home for the next edition and having friends and family close at hand to offer their support.
“I’ve been to Rio and Tokyo. Anybody that’s kind of in the biz knows that those two Games were anomalies in their own kind of way,” said Asher-Smith.
“I’m really excited to, fingers crossed, have what might be a more normal Olympics. And that’s not just normal because of the time zone because obviously Beijing and the others were all phenomenal.
“But in terms of mainly crowds, [I’m] really excited. I was in Paris the other day and I don’t know if I ruffled a few feathers.
“But I did say when I was talking to the French press, ‘Paris to me is like a home Olympics’. I don’t think I should say that, but it’s an hour away from home.
“I’m from Kent in England. So, I’m nearer to France, nearer to Paris, than I am Scotland. For me and my friends it’s close enough, it’s like a home Olympics. I’m mega excited. They can all just hop on the Eurostar two hours come and watch.
“And also, being on this time zone is essential because even for a European or British person, like just being on TV at 7pm, 9pm, 10pm, those core times are essential.
“I’ve got really good friends but when they’re waking up at 8am to watch me, or when we just had the World Champs for athletics in Oregon and then we they were getting up at 3am, that was a lot. That was definitely a lot, so I’m happy that it’s back in Europe.”
