Dina Asher-Smith became the first British woman to break the 11-second barrier in the 100 metres on this day in 2015.
At the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, the then 19-year-old clocked a time of 10.99 seconds in her heat at London’s Olympic Stadium whilst also trimming 0.03 seconds from her own British record.
Even though Asher-Smith finished in fourth place behind Dafne Schippers in the final having run a time of 11.06, it did not overshadow her earlier achievement.
Asher-Smith said: “I’m in the 10 seconds now so I’m absolutely over the moon.
“I felt like I was in good shape, but feeling in good shape and then doing it are two very different things.
“When I crossed the line and saw the time I was beaming. I’m really, really happy. I was like, ‘What on earth have I just run?'”
The record for Asher-Smith launched her as a force on the world stage.
Winning Olympic bronze in the 4x100m relay in Rio in 2016, she also went on to complete a sprint double and anchored the sprint relay squad to win gold at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.
Asher-Smith went on the achieve bigger things at the 2019 World Championships where she claimed silver in the 100 metres with a time of 10.83, and took the 200m title in 21.88, both British records.
