Dina Asher-Smith finishes third in 200m at Diamond League opener in Doha

World 200 metres champion Dina Asher-Smith had to settle for third place in her Diamond League opener in Doha.

Asher-Smith, who won her world title in the same city in 2019, ran a strong bend but faded down the home straight as Olympic bronze medallist Gabrielle Thomas of America took the win ahead of Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson.

It was the 26-year-old Briton’s first top-level race of 2022 following low-key appearances over 300m and 400m at Lee Valley in April and came ahead of next weekend’s showdown against Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah over 100m in Birmingham.Asher-Smith claimed her second relay Olympic bronze medal at last summer’s Tokyo Games after failing to reach the 100m final and pulling out of the 200m following a hamstring problem.

Her British team-mate Beth Dobbin finished sixth in Doha in 23.06s, with Dan Rowden earlier fourth in the men’s 800m in 1:49.56 in a race won by Kenyan teenager Noah Kibet.