Dina Asher-Smith claims the long-standing women’s 100m world record can finally be broken

Dina Asher-Smith believes the controversial 100m world record set by Florence Griffith Joyner could finally fall to the combination of a golden generation of female sprinters and escalating technology.

It has been 34 years since Flo-Jo blitzed a 10.49sec run at the 1988 Olympic trials – a mark that has endured despite allegations around performance-enhancing drugs and faulty trackside wind readings.

After more than three decades of that record seeming untouchable, the Jamaican pair of Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.54sec) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.60sec) have closed within touching distance.

Dina Asher-Smith believes the women’s 100m world record can finally be broken 

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (above) has come close to beating Florence Griffith Joyner’s time as has Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in recent times

The contentious advances in spike technologies and track surfaces have given rise to the possibility that the record could fall at this summer’s World Championships in Eugene, with Britain’s 200m world champion Asher-Smith saying: ‘I definitely think someone can break it, given the advantages of technology and track technology. I ran in Eugene and that track was great.

‘That as well as all the advantages of the competition – domestic and international. We shouldn’t put limits on ourselves. Everything seems impossible until it’s done.’

Asher-Smith will contest the 100m at the Diamond League meet in Birmingham on Saturday after an underwhelming season-opener in Doha last week. 

‘Flo-Jo’ set the 100m record in 1988 ahead of claiming gold in the event at the Seoul Olympics

Ahead of a congested summer, in which she will also compete at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, she faces the American Cambrea Sturgis, who has delivered the quickest time in the world this season (10.87sec), and the Olympic bronze medallist, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica.

Asher-Smith has ground to make up before the worlds, considering half a dozen women have gone quicker than her in both the 100m and 200m since her best season in 2019. She said: ‘It’s been a long, long time since I ran a PB and I’m definitely one of those people who tries to PB year on year. It has been annoying.

‘But there’s a time for everything and I’m confident in the work that I’ve done. When I peak, which is championship time, it will be amazing to lay down some really good times and good performances.’