On this day in 2019: Dina Asher-Smith wins World Championship sprint gold

Her time of 21.88 seconds secured her first individual senior title at world level.

Dina Asher-Smith celebrates a milestone victory (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)

Dina Asher-Smith became the first British woman to win World Championships sprint gold on this day, three years ago.

The then 23-year-old won gold in the 200 metres final in Doha to secure her own piece of history.

Her time of 21.88 seconds secured her first individual senior title at world level.

Asher-Smith’s title made her just the seventh woman to win gold for Great Britain in the championships’ history after Fatima Whitbread, Liz McColgan, Sally Gunnell, Paula Radcliffe, Christine Ohuruogu and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

She had been the favourite for victory going into the race, but it was a reduced field after the defending champion Dafne Schippers was among those who withdrew from the event.

Asher-Smith came fourth in the 200m in London two years previously after battling back from a broken foot.

She also took silver in the 100m in 2019 and at the time she said: “It means so much to have done that in the 200m but to have gone well in the 100m, an event I have not run at this level before, to be up there with the best women in the world means so much to me.”

It was a huge marker to lay down ahead of the Olympics, which were due to be held the following year before the coronavirus pandemic forced them to be postponed.

Unfortunately, Asher-Smith had an injury-ravaged 2021 season and left Tokyo with just a 4x100m bronze.

Her individual dreams were wrecked by a serious hamstring injury sustained at the British trials in June and she failed to reach the 100m final before pulling out of the 200m.