The show down between world champion Dina Asher-Smith and rising star Sha'Carri Richardson has been one of the most exciting aspects to this seasons sprinting events.
Fast-finishing Richardson, who shocked the world with an astonishing 10.72 last month has catapulted herself as one of the favourites for the upcoming Olympics. While Asher-Smith has a had a more gradual approach to this season she still considers herself as a 200m specialist.
The first diamond league was the event for the pair to battle it out for the first time this season. The meeting took place in cold, wet and windy UK weather while the wind was a strong -3.1ms. Fast times were never on the cards and the weather is a factor that all the athletes had to deal with. Asher-Smith destroyed the strong field in the blustery conditions to hold her solid form all the way to the line. Richardson finished in a solid 2nd in a time of 11.44 which was 0.09 behind Asher-Smith.
Considering the conditions should be much better in Tokyo we expect to see much better times from both athletes. Who knows, all this hype about Richardson being compared to Flo-Jo might become justified after this season. Will we see a 10.60?
