A NEW PLAYBOOK: DINA ASHER-SMITH

DINA ASHER-SMITH IS A FORCE OF NATURE ON AND OFF THE TRACK. SHE SITS DOWN WITH BROADCASTER CLARA AMFO TO REFLECT ON BARRIER-BREAKING AND THE FUTURE OF WOMEN IN SPORT.

By Noa Abela

You can’t help but be captivated by Dina Asher-Smith in motion. A symphony of precision, power, and resilience, she makes the impossible seem not just effortless, but inevitable. Hers is a story about momentum—generational, cultural, and deeply personal.

Dina is the first British woman to run the 100-meter dash in under 11 seconds, winning six world and three Olympic medals. She’s also earned herself an MBE, a prestigious order of chivalry, for her significant social impact in the nation. Dina is a living example of what it means to be a contemporary athlete, paving the way for young girls, like she was once, to wholeheartedly pursue whatever passion they dream up.

She shares convictions with broadcaster, voice-over artist, and cultural commentator Clara Amfo. Both women know what it takes to carve out space in worlds not built for them—where Black women have long faced systemic barriers, exclusion, and underrepresentation. They mirror one another in their ambition and tenacity as they navigate the peaks of their respective industries. For Beyond Noise, the long-time friends reflect on community and the legacies we leave behind, shaped by an unfaltering commitment to reaching their full potential.

CLARA AMFO: How do you navigate training and muscle memory to stay fully present during a race?

DINA ASHER-SMITH: A lot of what we do is repetitive, and for every athlete, there’s going to be a different way to race well. In the last few years, I’ve learned that I need to turn my brain off. That wouldn’t work if you run the 800 or the 1500, where you need to be alert. But for a sprint, where you’ve got your lane, it’s kind of like a showcase. It’s about focusing on yourself, what you’re doing in that moment—being present. The rest is muscle memory.

CA: Do you feel almost possessed by the spirit of running when you are in that mode? Do you feel taken over?

DAS: I don’t necessarily feel taken over, but it’s taken me quite a while to get to that place. I spent a lot of time where running was very stressful, but now I’m in a position where I’m just trying to enjoy it and be grateful. I have to preface this: I’m not a live-laugh-love girl, but I’m so fortunate that the most complex [part] of my day is how fast I get from A to B. Is it easy? No. Am I out here in the sweltering sun, running until I can’t anymore? Absolutely. I’m working so hard, but in the grand scheme of life, it’s a really blessed position to be in.

CA: I love that you’ve been able to teach yourself how to self-regulate, to get back to the core of why you started running in the first place. I’m thinking about little Dina thinking, This running thing looks quite fun! “Fun” being the operative word. People often underestimate the pressure that is put on athletes, because it’s a spectator sport, and nothing feels better than seeing someone wearing the flag of where they’re from crossing that finish line. But it’s still a human being carrying all that energy.

DAS: I love pressure. I love finite situations. I think this is innate to being a sprinter. People believe in you because you can do it. It’s entertainment. Part of the story is: Is it going to go well? If it doesn’t, it’s another chapter in your story. It doesn’t mean everything is terrible. It’s [about] not getting caught up in the millions of people who are seeing you as a machine. It’s about staying grounded, putting yourself first, and not feeling guilty about that.

CA: I think that philosophy can be applied to life outside of sports.

DAS: Everybody has different pressures, but if you ever have the opportunity to enjoy what you’re doing, you should.

CA: How do you balance the pursuit of progress when you need to rest?

DAS: I’m not a fan of pushing through pain, but as any athlete knows, there’s a time to go and there’s a time to rest. If it’s the Olympic final day and my leg hurts, I’m running. We’ll deal with it afterwards. And if your body says no, it’s a no. If you don’t take the time to rest—trust me—what could have been a three-day rest will turn into six weeks. Even last week, I just didn’t feel quite like myself. I realized I needed to go home. I needed to recalibrate. I needed to sleep in my own bed. It’s about assessing the situation. Mental rest and recovery are essential.

CA: You’ve touched on this already, but to ask definitively: How do you ensure that joy stays at the heart of your work?

DAS: If you’re not running fast, you’re not having fun. [But] a bad day at work for us does not look like a bad day at work for other people. We go home and we’re so upset—you make a millisecond of a mistake or you get distracted. [But] I’m just grateful that my bad day isn’t that bad. Life as an athlete is finite. You’re not going to be running forever. Just be really grateful that you’ve got all these people who want to see you do well and keep pushing.

CA: How has community shaped your journey?

DAS: When I came up, I spent 19 years in a grassroots club where I won my first world title and many European titles. That was because every time I came to training, it was like a hug. I had so much emotional support, and I knew that so many people were on my side. I think you can testify to this as well, Clara: London and the community that we’ve built. Coming to America and being dropped in Austin—a beautiful city, but so far away from what I’m used to—made me so grateful not only for what I’ve got back home, but for how we carry each other, interact with each other, and support each other. I think that we could all do more as a community, and as of the next few years, I would like to give back to track and field and women in ways that haven’t necessarily been done before.

CA: Young kids will look up to you. You’ve got your Barbie. Dina Asher-Smith is a trademark. I’m interested in the people you are inspired by outside of sports.

DAS: At the moment, I am most inspired by Pharrell. He is somebody who has brought many aspects of himself to many different disciplines—maintaining his identity and integrity throughout. He has been consistent, but it was not a quick jump to where he is now. He’s taken his time with his vision for himself—how he wants to impact culture, improve the experiences of so many people around him, and redefine Blackness. He has brought that through institutions that traditionally haven’t had it as part of their narrative, unapologetically, at an incredibly high level. He’s a powerhouse.

CA: We need those people who don’t fit in. We need the people that everyone’s afraid of at first. Every successful person who has truly made an impact on our culture—from David Bowie to Oprah to Pharrell—shouldn’t have had the success they had because they were outcasts. Still, they did it their way. You can’t help but be inspired by that. Which brings us beautifully to your legacy. A word that holds so much power and can mean so many different things. What does legacy mean to you at this moment?

DAS: I think legacy evolves. If you’re in the public sphere, anything that you’ve impacted will continue to change long after you’ve gone. There are so many artists who didn’t sell a painting when they were alive, who probably died thinking, I should have done something else. And now they’ve got entire institutions to their name. We can’t fully comprehend what our legacy is going to be—it’s as much defined by the times we’re in as the times we’re never going to see.

CA: That is a very measured take. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an incredible quality that many successful people have, where they’re like, I want my legacy to be this. Working towards those goals keeps you motivated. But ultimately, what you leave behind and how you have affected people’s lives is what legacy is. What do you hope to leave for the generation coming up after you?

DAS: I want them to be better than me. I want them to look at me and believe that they can, because when I was coming up, no British woman had been sub-11. No British Black girl would ever have been in a Louis Vuitton campaign. There were so many things that weren’t possible. I know it sounds silly, but I want the next generation to not even acknowledge the fights I’ve had—to be able to walk into it easily. That is how my grandmother brought me up. She came over from Trinidad and said, “I don’t want you to think about the problems that I’ve had. I want to create a world and put you in situations you can glide through.” We’ve had to work so hard to even get in the conversation. Sportswomen were not mainstream. Dark-skinned Black sportswomen were not mainstream. We were not getting on these billboards. Now, there are choices.

CA: I see your impact on our living history now. I see the way that athletes are coming up. You have definitely played a part in that.

DAS: Yes, it’s mad! I was uncompromising on being luxury. This is who I am and I know that’s not how you might see me. They want to put me in a box, but I’m going to change that box because this is my reality. I will show you exactly who I am. Sitting next to actors and actresses—that’s exactly where a sportswoman should be. That’s where a Black British girl, a dark-skinned sprinter who’s very successful, should be. I want that to be absolutely normal, because why not? That is what I would love—for women’s sport to be elevated. I’m making sure that we solidify our place in rooms that weren’t open to us before.

CA: It’s all about reshaping the perception of women in these spaces. I have definitely noticed a shift in the past three years across athletics, and in football particularly. All the girls are getting covers and big endorsement deals, and I’m like, Yes, fab, you girls are rock stars!

DAS: It was such a struggle. People asked, “Are you trying to be a model?” I was like, “No, I’m just being a sportswoman.” And they didn’t see it at first. In every other industry with women, this is a rite of passage. This is a standard PR trial. Why are we not afforded that? If we are, we’re seen as trying to break from this traditionalist mold of sports. Sports are undefinable. Sports can touch every facet. So why can’t we touch this?

CA: When you think about male athletes, it’s not even questioned. You’ll see Premiership footballers on the covers of magazines, doing these high-fashion shoots. They’ll be in these campaigns, they’ll endorse this brand, and no one’s thinking—

DAS: Does it change their integrity? To be fair, sometimes you do have naysayers. But as a whole, they are not questioned. They’re luxury, of course. Sportswomen can be the same.

CA: There’s so much misogyny attached to it, because it’s: Be obedient, run your race, but don’t ask for too much.

DAS: Don’t expect too much. Don’t be too much. This is your box, stay in it. Just take the low-hanging fruit. That has never been me. If I wouldn’t do it in my personal life, why would I do it in my professional life?

CA: How do you reconcile being a role model with the fact that you are a very real, fallible human being who’s constantly growing and evolving?

DAS: Since I’ve come out of the UK and I train in Texas, I’ve changed so much as a person, for the better. Being away has given me so much perspective and a sharper sense of who I am. I’m a little bit more joyful, irreverent, and much better at understanding that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t think that I necessarily always lived that. I’ve changed.

CA: And there’s nothing wrong with that! One of the phrases that always grinds my gears is when people say, “You’ve changed.” Yeah, I should hope so!

DAS: There can be fear of change when you’ve been in the same environment for a long time, but there’s no shame in changing, and there’s no shame in wanting more. That doesn’t mean you’re leaving anything behind. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to shed everything and forget. It’s about growth, perspective, embracing the world, and seeing what you can bring back to help others.