Tokyo 2020: Dina Asher-Smith pulls out of 200 metres due to hamstring injury

Sprinter Dina Asher-Smith has said she will be pulling out of the 200 metres at the Tokyo games due to a hamstring injury.

The Team GB's star suffered an Olympic shock on Saturday after failing to make the 100 metres final - she had been a strong contender for a medal but finished third in the semis.

The Londoner had been tipped to become the first British woman to take an individual sprint medal since Dorothy Hyman in 1960.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live after the race, the 25-year-old fought back tears as she said she would not be competing in the 200m - the distance she's currently world champion in.

"I was the reigning world champion and I was in such good shape, you just know that (becoming) Olympic champion is not too much more of a further step."

The GB star had withdrawn from the British Grand Prix in Gateshead earlier this month with a hamstring injury - in her build-up to Tokyo she said her hamstring had been “grumpy” but insisted she was fully fit.

Speaking after her 100m disappointment, however, she told the BBC the injury was worse than she had previously let on.

"Obviously I am so disappointed not to make the final. It’s everything I have trained for for the last two years.

"The last two weeks of my life have been absolutely insane. I wanted to come and be completely up front with everyone on my form.

"I tore (the hamstring) pretty bad. I was told it would take surgery and would take three to four months to get back. I went and got a second opinion – and it was a slight misdiagnosis. It wasn’t a rupture. My hamstring was still attached.

"I went from, ‘Oh I can’t go’ to ‘maybe I can’."

She added: "Obviously I was not my normal self (today).

"I was in really good shape (before the trials), the shape of my life. I felt I was going to win this. But I had the low of being told it’s impossible for you to be there and then there’s a chance.

"It has been a journey. I am so proud to come out here and run 11.0 off a few weeks training."

Asher-Smith fought back tears as she added: "I’m really proud of everything that I’ve done to this point, but when you’re talking about the standard that I want to be at and that I know I’m capable of.

"There are plenty more championships for me to come and kill. We’re in the middle of a four to five-year cycle, and yes I got a hamstring tear at the most inconvenient time, but it doesn’t really change the fact of the calibre of athlete I actually am.

"John has told me it’s a no, and that broke my heart. I mean you’ve seen me when I was younger go and pop my hamstring. On the 200 I would do it because that’s the kind of athlete that I am.

"I was the reigning world champion and I was in such good shape, you just know that (becoming) Olympic champion is not too much more of a further step."

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah went on to win gold medal in the women’s 100 metres final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Thompson-Herah finished in a time of 10.61secs to set a new Olympic record and retain her crown ahead of two-time former champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, with Shericka Jackson completing a 1-2-3 for Jamaica.

GB's Daryll Neita finished last after exceeding expectations to reach the final, setting a time of 11.12secs.