Dina Asher-Smith wins the 60m World Indoor Tour event in Germany and equals 7.08secs personal best

After the deep freeze came the heat as Dina Asher-Smith crushed the field in Germany on Friday night to get her Olympic season started.

In her first competitive meet for 16 months, Asher-Smith matched her 60metres personal best with a 7.08secs victory at the World Indoor Tour event in Karlsruhe. Cobwebs? Nothing of the sort.

While the race was only a warm-up step towards the European Indoors in March, and in turn those championships serve merely as a preparatory exercise for the Olympics, Asher-Smith’s times in Germany were worthy of note. Her heat, which she won in 7.11sec, was her first indoor race for almost three years and her run in the final ranked 14th in the world across the past six seasons.

Clearly, her plan to train and finesse rather than compete through the dud season of 2020 has left her in strong shape – the 200m world champion led from the blocks and crossed 0.08sec ahead of France’s Orlann Ombissa-Dzangue. Asher-Smith’s British team-mate Asha Philip, the 2017 European Indoor champion, was fifth in a modest 7.22sec.

Asher-Smith, who races in Dusseldorf on Sunday, said: ‘It’s a long time since I competed so to equal my personal best I am really excited for what the season brings. We wanted to focus on the indoor season to make sure we are sharp going into the Olympics.

‘We have to wait and see what happens in more races but equalling my personal best, I couldn’t ask for much more. I hope it bodes well.

‘I have to stay focused to make sure the trajectory continues. I wasn’t really worried (about racing for the first time in more than a year). I do think I have to get a bit more race sharp but I was more excited than scared. I was just excited to get started.’

Meanwhile, British athletes have criticised the Government for the rule change which means they have to quarantine for 10 days when they return from training in Dubai. On Thursday, the Government banned flights from the United Arab Emirates and scrapped elite-sport travel exemptions.

It is understood around 12 British Olympic hopefuls were left scrambling to get home indirectly on Friday. Race walker Tom Bosworth, who flew back via Frankfurt and will now have to source a treadmill to train at home, said: ‘It is incredibly frustrating. We understand things have changed quickly. But if we leave with (government) clearance and exemptions from quarantining, those have to be honoured or at least give us time to change our plans.’