Britain's Dina Asher-Smith maintained her form perfectly to claim her second European 100m title in Rome.

Asher-Smith, who previously won the blue riband event in the 2018 Berlin championships, timed 10.99 seconds for victory. She was quick to praise new training techniques on top-end speed that helped her overcome a poor start, before beating Poland's Ewa Swoboda (11.03secs) into second place and Italy's Zaynab Dosso who was third.

Dina celebrated her first major international medal since winning European 200m silver in 2022. "I am in really great shape, I feel really good,” she said.

“I knew I had this in me. I had a bad start - championships!

"I can definitely run faster than that. This is a progression towards the Olympic Games.

“I am glad to be in this shape after some months of a new set-up, it is really hard to achieve." Asher-Smith is now based in Austin, Texas, where she said she had been working on "top end speed... I could compensate the bad start"

Asher-Smith's experiences in Munich two years ago led the former 200m world champion to call for more research into the effect of periods on performance, after her 100m title defence was ruined mid-race by calf cramps caused by her cycle. She bounced back from that setback to win 200m silver but, following a disappointing World Championships last summer where she finished eighth in the 100m final and seventh in the 200m, Asher-Smith split with long-time coach John Blackie in October, ending a 19-year partnership.

Having now moved to train with Edrick Floreal in Austin, Texas, this was a timely victory for Asher-Smith as she builds towards an attempt at winning her first individual Olympic medal at Paris 2024.

"I’m in a great place but, when you’ve got a few new things to get your head round, sometimes it does take a little bit of time,” Dina said.

"Overall I’m really happy that I’m six to eight months into a new set-up and I’m here putting together performances like this back to back." On the Olympics, she added: "I’m very excited.

“I think a European Olympics is going to be so much fun and, if I am being honest, my mentality this year is just chill out and have a great time."