After an eleven-year hiatus, ten-time UK sprint champion Dina Asher-Smith will this weekend make her highly-anticipated return to the Novuna UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham’s Utilita Arena (Feb 14-15), with hopes of 60m glory.

The 30 year-old – who is based at Baylor University in Texas – has begun her winter campaign with a fine 7.08 victory at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston last month, followed by a 7.10 victory at the Millrose Games in New York a fortnight ago and Asher-Smith is very much looking forward to competing on British soil for the first time in sixth months:

“I’m really excited to compete in Birmingham and connect with the fans – when you train halfway across the world, it makes you miss a lot back home and the British events have always been highlights of my calendar,” the 2019 world 200m champion revealed.

“It’s a more intimate competition than the outdoors and it will be great to be back home. We have the most engaged and welcoming fans in the world who are very loyal, knowledgeable and kind, and I’m very lucky and privileged as a British athlete to have so many opportunities to compete in the UK.”

Coached by Michael Ford since the autumn, the five-time British 100m champion and three-time British 200m champion will line up against world 200m champion, Amy Hunt in the shorter sprint final on Saturday:

“I’d obviously like to win and it will be really nice to see so many family and friends, and have a good time,” explained Asher-Smith.

The 60m champion in the 2014 and 2015 editions of the event, will be looking to eclipse her 7.03 national record from 2023 this season and has one eye on selection for next month’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland (March 20-22):

“It’s very early doors in the season but I’m very happy as I’m having fun in training and competition, which gives me a lot of capacity to compete well – which is something I haven’t always had in the last three years, so it’s refreshing,” the 2024 Olympic 4x100m silver medalist and 200m fourth place finisher revealed.

“I’m taking it week by week so I will see about doing the world indoors. I’ve made a lot of changes in training and I spend a lot more time in the gym – I’m always working on my weaknesses and focusing on being the best athlete I can be.

“I’m very lucky to have some great new training partners and we’re having such a good time, so I’m really happy.

“Even though being away from home hurts my heart, I run well in the sun and it’s best for my performances to be removed from distractions and in order to focus on my rest and recovery.”

Fifth and eighth in the world championship 200m and 100m finals, respectively in Tokyo last year, Asher-Smith is keen to add some major championship silverware to her impressive collection this summer – and is relishing the UK hosting both the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, followed by the European outdoor Championships in Birmingham in August:

“I really want to compete at both – especially the Commonwealth Games as I missed that in 2022 through injury,” she explained.

A two-time European 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay champion and a Commonwealth 200m bronze-medalist in 2018 together with 4x100m relay gold on Australia’s Gold Coast, Asher-Smith continued:

“I’ll definitely target different events because the two competitions are very close – it’s important to discuss the most intelligent way to navigate your way through that as well as possible, but I’m excited for both for sure.”

For more information about the Indoor Championships head over to our event page, with tickets still available on AXS

Nicola Sutton for British Athletics.