Dina Asher-Smith crashes out of 100m semis, pulls out of 200m

One of the stars of British athletics, Dina Asher Smith, made a premature exit from individual events at the Olympic Games on Saturday (31 July).

The world 100m silver medallist and 200m champion from Doha 2019 was overtaken late on in the opening semi-final heat by Switzerland's Ajla del Ponte with reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah taking a comfortable victory.

Asher-Smith had to wait to see if her time of 11.05 would be enough to take her into the final as one of two fastest losers, but she was pipped by British team-mate Daryll Neita who clocked 11.00 in the final heat.

Neita was behind Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce whose 10.73 was the quickest time in the semi-finals.

Thompson-Herah was next (10.76) with Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote d'Ivoire taking the second heat in 10.79, crossing the line just in front of Jamaica's Shericka Jackson who was given the same time.

Asher-Smith went into the Games as one of Britain's leading medal hopes in athletics at Tokyo 2020 after her world title triumph in Doha.

Three weeks ago, she was forced to pull out of the British Grand Prix event at Gateshead due to what was reported as "a tight hamstring" at the time.

Speaking to BBC after her 100m exit, Asher-Smith revealed that she had actually torn a hamstring at the British Olympic trials on 26 June.

The 25-year-old said, "I pulled out of both Stockholm and Gateshead because in the trials final, I actually pulled my hamstring at 60m, I tore it pretty bad and I was initially told in Manchester that it was a rupture and that I would require surgery and it would take three to four months to get back.

"It's been a lot to deal with because quite frankly, with that diagnosis, I just can't go to Tokyo, so we had this whole statement ready to go. But then I thankfully went and got a second opinion and it was a slight misdiagnosis - even though there was still a tear, it wasn't a rupture, my hamstring was still attached, so we turned over every single stone to make sure I can stand on the line.

Fighting back tears, she said, "It broke my heart because I am a competitor. It is the Olympics but there are plenty other championships for me to come and kill."

While she was able to come through the first round with ease, she was unable to raise her game sufficiently in the semi-finals.

However, she has said to British media that she would still like to compete in the 4x100m relay which starts on Thursday (5 August).

The final of the women's 100m takes place at 9.50pm Japanese time (0050 UTC).