<\/p>\n
Given the doldrums that was British female sprinting prior to her emergence, it was perhaps little surprise that Dina Asher-Smith stood largely unchallenged on the national stage for the best part of her 20s.<\/p>\n
So, it was to some raised eyebrows that the country\u2019s sprint queen was usurped by Amy Hunt last summer \u2013 the young upstart claiming world championships 200m silver, while Asher-Smith faded to fifth.<\/p>\n The former world 200m champion could \u2013 but notably chose not to \u2013 point to the mitigating circumstances of a turbulent mid-season return to England after a training move to America gone wrong. But the changing of the guard felt significant: one athlete on the up and the other on the decline. Or was she?<\/p>\n Now back in Texas, albeit with a different coach to the one she left last summer, Asher-Smith has spent the winter, during which she turned 30, running with notably renewed vigour. A few swift early-season performances paved the way for this first appearance at the UK Indoor Championships in a decade, and a return to her throne looked a certainty from the moment she stepped on the Birmingham track on Saturday.<\/p>\n A time of 7.17sec in the heats preceded 7.11 in the semi-finals and then an utterly dominant 7.05 \u2013 a championship record \u2013 to triumph in the final, well clear of Hunt, who clocked 7.15 for silver. The winning time was the third-quickest of Asher-Smith\u2019s career. Who thought it wise to suggest the best may be behind her?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much about myself over the past few years,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m somebody who runs fast when I\u2019m happy. I\u2019m really enjoying training in this environment, but most importantly I\u2019ve got to be happy in myself. I think you\u2019re seeing that.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year was very tough. But I\u2019ve changed as a person, and I think I gained a lot of confidence from that because to be disappointed that I didn\u2019t medal [at the world championships] when you have training disruptions like that \u2026 I was just proud that psychologically I could handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n She will now head to next month\u2019s World Indoor Championships in Poland, alongside Hunt, whose strongest suit remains over longer sprint distances. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s not nice to lose to one of your biggest rivals, so I\u2019m slightly frustrated,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cBut on the plus side, we are getting a lot more consistent. For me to be frustrated with a 7.15 shows how far I have come in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one still expects anything from me in the 60s, so I get to go out there and just have fun. If I can keep this momentum rolling, I will be super happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Asher-Smith\u2019s winning margin was significantly greater than in the men\u2019s equivalent, in which reigning world and European 60m champion Jeremiah Azu had to fight to the line to see off Romell Glave, clocking 6.56sec to the silver medallist\u2019s 6.62.<\/p>\n