Dina Asher-Smith: Fastest British Woman & Olympic Medalist

Fastest 100m time: 10.83 seconds · Fastest 200m time: 21.88 seconds · Olympic medals: 1 silver, 1 bronze · European gold medals: 2 (100m & 200m, 2018)

The identifiers below are the ones used on official entry lists and governing-body profiles.

Who is a famous UK female sprinter?

When people ask who Britain’s most recognisable female sprinter is, the answer has been consistent for years: Dina Asher-Smith, the woman who redefined what British women’s sprinting can produce. She’s not just a medal winner — she’s the standard against which every new British sprinter is now measured.

Early life and education

• Born in Orpington, Greater London, on 4 December 1995
• Developed through the Blackheath & Bromley club pathway
• Studied at the University of East London while building her professional career

Her Trinidadian heritage has been part of her public story, but Asher-Smith’s sprinting identity is firmly rooted in the British system — from school-age competitions through to the senior relay teams she has anchored for a decade.

Career milestones

• 2016: European Championships gold in the 4x100m relay
• 2018: European Championships gold in both the 100m and 200m — the first British woman to complete that double at a single Europeans
• 2019: World Championships silver in the 200m, bronze in the 100m and 4x100m, setting British records in both individual events (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2021: Olympic silver in the 4x100m relay at Tokyo

The implication: Asher-Smith’s career has been defined by peaking at championships, not just clocking fast times in low-pressure meets. That distinction matters in Paris, where medals are won through rounds, not single time trials.

What is Dina Asher-Smith’s fastest 100m time?

Her fastest 100m time is 10.83 seconds, set on 29 September 2019 in Doha during the World Athletics Championships. It remains the British national record, and it’s the number every emerging British sprinter is chasing (World Athletics (governing body)).

Personal best progression

• 2019: 10.83s in Doha (100m), 21.88s in Doha (200m) — both British records (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2022: her Diamond League profile also lists a 10.83s clocking at Hayward Field in Eugene on 17 July 2022, matching her record (Wanda Diamond League (event organiser))
• Her indoor 60m best stands at 7.03 seconds

Comparison to British records

Here is how those times sit against the national record list.

She also shares a 41.55s 4x100m relay result on 20 July 2024, which World Athletics lists as equal to the British record — a performance she ran alongside Amy Hunt in the Paris 2024 cycle (World Athletics (governing body)).

What this means: Asher-Smith’s records have lasted from 2019 through two Olympic cycles. For any younger sprinter, the challenge isn’t just running faster — it’s doing it in a championship setting, which is a completely different skill from producing a solo time trial.

Are Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita friends?

Yes — and more importantly, they’ve spent years as teammates in the most high-stakes relay environment in British athletics. Their relationship combines training partnership with the kind of mutual respect that only comes from competing side by side for national honours.

Training partnership

• Asher-Smith and Neita have anchored Great Britain’s 4x100m relay teams through multiple major championships
• Both have spoken publicly about the value of training alongside each other at the elite level
• Neita has also pursued an individual sprint career, reaching major finals in her own right

When Asher-Smith moved her training base back to London in 2023, the practical effect was a closer working relationship with the British sprint group that includes Neita and other GB teammates. That proximity matters in a relay year.

Public statements about each other

Asher-Smith has described Neita as a good friend and training partner, with both athletes frequently sharing training footage and supportive messages. Their relationship has been a recurring storyline in British sprinting media, where the “rivals on track, friends off it” framing is treated as a strength of the British women’s sprint programme.

The pattern: in British women’s sprinting, the individual and relay careers are inseparable. Asher-Smith’s ability to stay close to Neita and the wider GB squad is part of her competitive strategy, not just a personal preference.

Is Amy Hunt faster than Dina Asher-Smith?

Based on official personal bests, no — not yet. Asher-Smith holds clear margins in both the 100m and 200m. But the comparison requires care, because Amy Hunt’s career has followed an unusual trajectory: a teenage world record in 2019, followed by a slow rebuild through injury, then a major breakthrough after the Paris 2024 window.

Three head-to-head numbers, one pattern: Asher-Smith leads in every official category, but Hunt is improving at an age when sprinters typically make their biggest gains.

Head-to-head race results

• Asher-Smith’s 100m PB of 10.83s is 0.14s faster than Hunt’s listed 10.97s (World Athletics (governing body))
• Asher-Smith’s 200m PB of 21.88s is 0.20s faster than Hunt’s listed 22.08s (Wanda Diamond League (event organiser))
• The two were teammates on the same 41.55s 4x100m relay on 20 July 2024 (World Athletics (governing body))
• Hunt’s 200m PB of 22.08s was recorded on 18 September 2025 in Tokyo’s National Stadium — after the Paris Olympics (Wanda Diamond League (event organiser))

Age and potential

Amy Hunt, born in 2002, is seven years younger than Asher-Smith. Hunt set a U20 world record in the 200m (22.42s) in 2019, but then dealt with injuries and a disrupted period of development. Her 2025 breakthrough — dropping to 22.08s in Tokyo — signals that she is finally translating junior potential into senior form (World Athletics (governing body)).

Who is the fastest British woman in history?

The answer is Dina Asher-Smith, and it’s not close. She owns both the British 100m and 200m records, making her unambiguously the fastest British woman ever over both sprint distances (World Athletics (governing body)).

Women’s 100m British record progression

• Katherine Merry and Kathy Cook held earlier British records before the modern era of British women’s sprinting
• Asher-Smith’s 10.83s in 2019 reset the standard entirely
• No other British woman has broken 10.90s as of the Paris 2024 cycle

Current record holders across distances

The record list is short, and Asher-Smith’s name appears twice.

The catch: being “fastest in British history” doesn’t automatically translate to Olympic individual medals. Asher-Smith’s Olympic medals — silver and bronze — have both come in the relay. The individual Olympic podium remains the one gap in her career, which makes Paris 2024 a defining moment for her legacy.

That makes her record both a target and a shield: nobody has done what she did in Doha, and Paris is the place where an individual Olympic medal would settle the debate.

Timeline: Dina Asher-Smith’s career at a glance

• 2015: World University Games – bronze in 200m (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2016: European Championships – gold in 4x100m relay; Olympic bronze in 4x100m at Rio (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2017: World Championships – bronze in 4x100m relay (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2018: European Championships – gold in 100m and 200m, first British woman to win both at the same Europeans (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2019: World Championships – silver in 200m, bronze in 100m and 4x100m; set British records of 10.83s and 21.88s in Doha (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2021: Tokyo Olympics – silver in 4x100m relay (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2022: World Championships – bronze in 4x100m; Commonwealth Games – bronze in 100m, silver in 4x100m (World Athletics (governing body))
• 2023: Switched training base back to London
• 2024: Pursuing Olympic success in Paris; shared 41.55s British-record relay with Amy Hunt on 20 July 2024 (World Athletics (governing body))

What this timeline shows: Asher-Smith’s best individual championships came in 2018 and 2019. Since then, her medal haul has continued through relays and global bronzes, but her individual championship peak has — so far — been concentrated in that two-year window. Paris 2024 is the chance to change that narrative.

What’s clear and what’s not

Confirmed facts

• Asher-Smith holds the British 100m record of 10.83s and the British 200m record of 21.88s (World Athletics (governing body))
• She has Olympic medals: silver (Tokyo 2021) and bronze (Rio 2016), both in the 4x100m relay (World Athletics (governing body))
• She was born on 4 December 1995 in Orpington, England
• Amy Hunt’s 200m PB of 22.08s was set in Tokyo on 18 September 2025 — after the Paris Olympic cycle (Wanda Diamond League (event organiser))
• Hunt’s 100m PB of 10.97s was recorded at Stockholm’s Olympiastadion on 7 June 2026 (Wanda Diamond League (event organiser))

What’s unclear

• Whether Asher-Smith will break her own British records in 2024 or beyond
• Whether Hunt’s 2025-2026 improvement will eventually surpass Asher-Smith’s best times
• The specific structure of Asher-Smith’s London-based training regime after her 2023 move

For fans following the British sprint scene, the honest position is this: the records are official, the timeline is documented, but the future trajectory of both athletes is genuinely open. Anyone claiming certainty about who wins in Paris — or who holds the records in 2028 — is speculating.

Quotes that frame her mindset

“I wanted to be closer to family and my support network in London.”

Dina Asher-Smith, on her decision to leave her US training base

She has repeated the same championship-first logic in public, saying she wants to be at her best when it matters most — at championships.

After the 41.55 relay result, she described the performance as exciting for British sprinting while stressing the group still had room to improve.

Summary: what Paris 2024 actually means for her legacy

Asher-Smith’s place in British athletics history is secure: fastest British woman ever, European champion, two-time Olympic medallist. What Paris 2024 determines is whether that legacy becomes untouchable. An individual Olympic medal would complete a career that currently has a relay-only Olympic record. It would also silence the most persistent critique of her post-2019 era — that her best individual performances have not come on the Olympic stage. For every young British sprinter watching, the lesson is equally concrete: the records are the baseline, but the medals are the memory. For Asher-Smith, the choice in Paris is clear — deliver her British-record level in a championship final, or accept that her defining individual moments may already be behind her.

Frequently asked questions