What I’ve learnt: Dina Asher-Smith

Athlete Dina Asher-Smith, 21, is the first British woman to run 100m in under 11 seconds. After breaking her foot in February this year, she returns to action at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London, competing in both the 200m, which gets under way on Wednesday, and the 4x100m relay. She has just graduated in history from King’s College London and lives in Orpington, Kent.

Running a race, time slows down. You remember every single step, every single thought, every single process.

All sprinters are confident. You have to be, even if it’s fake confidence or you are just putting on a front. A 100m race can be won before you step up to the start line. You have to have that belief that you can execute under pressure.

People always thinks that I’m taller. I’m only 5ft 4in – the TV camera pans along a line-up at the start of a race and then bobs down to me. Everybody goes, “I thought you had to be tall to be a sprinter?” I’m like, no, you can be any height. You just have to run fast.

Athletes know their bodies really, really well. I mean, I can tell you the circumference of my calves right now – one’s 1cm smaller than the other at the moment, because of the injury. You have to have that self-awareness about your body. It’s like a musician knowing their instrument.

I get my competitiveness from my parents. I used to play dominoes with my entire family – uncles and everyone – when I was little. Most people, with a five-year-old child, they’d let you win. But my family would never let me win. One day, when I was maybe seven, I started to beat them, and then my family were like, “Right, we’re not going to play dominoes any more.”

Knowing that you have to work for stuff is a very useful lesson. A false sense of security isn’t very helpful in life.

Make sure that whatever you say is what you really mean. That was ingrained in me when I was very young.

Don’t waste your time on people who don’t treat you how you deserve to be treated. There’s no point – just don’t even bother. It’s not going to last.

Studying history has changed my outlook on the world. I’ve changed a lot since I started uni. When you’re exploring what people have had to go through, what they’ve endured and what they’ve overcome, it’s very humbling. If I’m annoyed after a race, I always get a second chance. The only thing I have to do is try again.

So many people at my uni were doing so many interesting things, I was nothing special. I mean, there was the odd moment – once I was doing some work on my laptop and this girl saw my surname. She was like, “Oh my God, is your sister that athlete and all that?” I was thinking, “Oh no, this is going to be embarrassing.” But it wasn’t a big deal.

I’m happy with my body. I enjoy looking nice, getting my eyebrows done, etc. But fuss about what I look like? That’s just not me.

I would love to be a singer. I love music. I really love it. But I’m terrible at singing. Every now and then I try again, just in case my voice has matured. But it never has. People are like, “Stop! I think a cat just died.”

I make really good scrambled eggs. Nice and slow, over a low heat … They’re my guilty pleasure.

Heels are a big no-no. My feet are my trade. Put heels on for Instagram, then take them off when the photo’s done.

Dina Asher-Smith is brand ambassador for Müller Light, sponsor of the World Athletics Championships (mullerathletics2017.com)