Two-hundredths of a second. It was the agonising timeframe that had denied Adam Peaty his third consecutive Olympic gold. It was also enough to cost Matt Richards the 200m freestyle title in the pool. And now, after a four-way photo finish, it was the difference for Dina Asher-Smith between fourth in the women’s 200m and what would have been a first individual Olympic medal.

Yes, Asher-Smith has previously won world and European titles in her favoured longer sprint, but the most obvious gap in an otherwise copious solo championship medal collection had been the Olympics and, for much of a gripping finale, it looked like that might end.

Recovering strongly from a nightmare semi-final performance in the 100m, Asher-Smith produced a typically outstanding bend to enter the final straight side by side with the American Brittany Brown, her British team-mate Daryll Neita and the Nigerian Favour Ofili.

The American Gabrielle Thomas was already well clear and surging to gold ahead of St Lucia’s 100m gold medallist Julien Alfred but the battle for bronze was unfolding dramatically.

The Race for Bronze

Gabby Thomas takes 200m gold for Team USA!! 🥇Team GB just miss out on the medals - Dina Asher-Smith crosses in fourth with Daryll Neita in fifth.#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/o0fWHBcgDf

None of the athletes seemed to know who had made it at the final dip but, after an excruciating 15-second wait, it was the name of Brown that flashed up in 22.20sec followed by Asher-Smith in 22.22sec and then Neita a further one hundredth of a second behind in fifth.

“I had no idea, said Asher-Smith, when asked whether she thought she had sealed bronze. “I was honestly just focused on running. I had no idea…and my eyesight isn’t that good either. I just wait for the screen before I embarrass myself.”

Reflecting on a Close Call

Asher-Smith had abruptly ended an interview on Sunday at the mention of her 100m performance but was able to see the broader picture after another 48 hours and the British sprinters can now certainly look ahead to the 4x100m relay with confidence of a potential medal.

“Overall, I’m happy because I’ve known I’ve been in a great place for this whole season,” said Asher-Smith, who is now based in Texas after splitting from her long-term coach John Blackie last year. “For a first year with a new coach, I think this is a great platform to build from.

“I’m really excited for the relay. I think it’s going to be a fun couple of days for us. Women’s sprinting is really incredible right now. It’s a great time to be a female sprinter.”

Neita’s Positivity Despite a Near Miss

Neita, who is a year younger than Asher-Smith, could take even more positives from a sprint series that has ended with a fourth and a fifth, albeit now after two agonisingly close medal misses.

She revealed that she had seen Team GB’s 800m gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson shortly before the race. “She said, ‘Just leave nothing to chance. Just give it your all’,” said Neita. “And that stayed in my head from the warm-up and in the call room.

“It was, ‘Come on, Keely said do this’. It’s amazing when you’ve got teammates who are so open to share, because not everybody might be so open. Keely is so open and inspiring, it’s a really good energy to be around.”

“I was so close – you want one of those medals – but I’m so proud of myself. I know my time is coming. I have to be a little bit more patient. I am hungry. I fought it all the way to the line. Ultimately I don’t have a medal around my neck.”

Other Highlights from the Games

Matthew Hudson-Smith had earlier underlined his status among the big favourites to win the men’s 400m on Wednesday night, qualifying for the final in 44.07sec. The Briton was clearly easing down hugely as he finished but three other rivals did dip under 44 seconds for a final in which the world record is in some considerable danger. Kirani James ran 43.78sec ahead of the Zambian 21-year-old Muzala Samukonga in 43.81sec while the American Quincy Hall finished in 43.95sec.

Hudson-Smith is a former training partner and room-mate of Noah Lyles and the new men’s 100m champion thinks that, between them, they will be winning all three of the men’s sprint events. Lyles is favourite to upgrade the bronze he won in Tokyo over 200m with a gold medal here. “It’s looking very strong – I’m voting for him for sure,” Lyles said of Hudson-Smith, who has come back from serious mental health challenges in recent years that left him even considering suicide. He has since won a World Championship silver, a European Championship gold and become the first European to run under 44 seconds.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes also performed strongly in the men’s long jump on Tuesday night, with a leap of 8.14m to secure fifth while Lizzie Bird was seventh in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.

“I was creeping up on my PB,” said Fincham-Dukes. “Definitely thought I had something in the fourth and fifth round to contend for a medal.

“It is something special out there. We have 70,000 people all going electric. It is other worldly. There was a sea of British flags. You almost feel personalised with each of them. I had them right there behind me and it felt amazing.”

Asher-Smith’s Struggles in Paris

Dina Asher-Smith has looked like a shadow of her former self at these Games. The 28-year-old has struggled for her best form at the Stade de France. She failed to make the final of the 100m last week after clocking a disappointing time of 11.1sec in her semi-final.

And she cut an unhappy figure when she was well short of American Gabby Thomas in Monday night’s semi-finals of the 200m.

Thomas is the overwhelming favourite for gold, so it is perhaps wrong to compare like for like, but Asher-Smith, a former world champion for the distance, looks set to miss out on being in medal contention tonight.

She had continued to talk positively up until last night, when she opted for near-enough silence after her 200m run of 22.31sec.

All she said was: “It was good, because I didn’t use much energy. I’m saving what I can for tomorrow.”

And yet she has been the benchmark for British sprinting — male or female — for years now. She has two Olympic medals and six medals at World Championship level, so a backlog of work to suggest she is a championship performer, able to repeatedly deliver on the biggest stage. Plus, the 200m has habitually been her stronger event.

Asher-Smith ended her long-time coaching relationship with John Blackie last year and relocated to the United States in the wake of last year’s World Championships, where she trains with the likes of Julien Alfred, the sprinter from St Lucia who sealed the 100m gold.

The hope is that Alfred’s success may yet rub off over the longer distance, although Asher-Smith finds herself in a fight to be even Britain’s fastest woman with Daryll Neita.

Neita reached the final of the 100m and finished fourth, and was just shy of her personal best in a time of 22.24sec in the 200m semi-finals, an event in which she currently lacks the experience of Asher-Smith.

Neita’s Confident Outlook

Having reached both sprint finals, Neita said: “I qualified for the final, so that’s all I need to say. Two finals, you can’t knock that. It’s an amazing achievement and, after a couple of nights, I am feeling happy and overwhelmed about how I performed in the 100m, so I am just carrying that confidence and energy into the 200m. That’s all I can do at this point.

“Once you are in that race [the final], anything can happen. It’s an open race, once we get on the start line, it’s open. I just need to go into that race headstrong and perform my best.”

Of the three Britons in last night’s semi-finals, the only one not to make it through was Bianca Williams, who clocked a season’s best but came up short in her bid to make the final.