Dina Asher-Smith is changing coach ahead of Olympic Games

Dina Asher-smith shared that she had parted ways with her coach John Blackie and will now be guided by Edrick Floreal ahead of the Olympic Games.

Great Britain’s sprint sensation Dina Asher-Smith has joined Fred Kerley and Marcel Jacobs in changing coaches.

She made the announcement in a post on her Instagram page, noting that she has parted ways with her coach, John Blackie who has worked with her since she was eight.

As reported by BBC, the 27-year-old will now be coached by Edrick Floreal and based in Austin, Texas.

Her decision comes after her poor run at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where she left with no medal. She finished eighth in the 100m final and seventh in the 200m.

She said: "After 19 years, John Blackie and I have ended our coach-athlete partnership. My life changed by meeting him and I will forever be grateful to him.

His intellect, patience, and dedication have taken me from an energetic eight-year-old to a world champion with over 20 international medals and many Olympics, World, Commonwealth, and European finals.

John and I will, of course, remain close friends. Thank you to John and thank you to all my team in London whose talents and hard work have helped me realise so many dreams to date.

My next chapter will be led by Edrick Floreal based out of Austin, Texas. I'm very excited to join his talented training group as we head to Paris 2024."

Under Blackie, the Briton cemented her place as one of the greatest sprinters of all time. She bagged the 100m bronze medals at the most recent two Olympics - in Rio 2016 and in Tokyo five years later - and won 200m gold at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

posted Friday October 13th
by Abigael Wuafula