ATHLETICS STAR DINA ASHER-SMITH INTERVIEW IN HER ROLE AS WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY OLYMPIC AMBASSADOR

What will your new role working with WBD involve?
My new role will include basically just letting everybody know how incredible Paris is going to be and very much encouraging them to watch via discovery+, Watch the various channels.

But I guess my role just mainly includes just being a positive influence, a good ambassador, somebody who Warner Bros. Discovery would be proud to work with. And also just really bringing that energy and excitement that makes not only the company, but also all the viewers and everybody at home really excited for the Olympics.

What do the Olympic Games mean to you?
Well, as an athlete, it means more or less everything. It's the thing that you've been dreaming about, since you were a young child. And you decided, yep, I want to try and absolutely go for it, be one of the best in the world. I want to be the Olympic champion. I want to go to the Olympic Games. So, for us, it's the pinnacle of our sport. It's the biggest - doing well at the Olympics is the biggest thing that you can do as a sports person.

I mean, I'm entirely biased, but I think Olympic gold is the one that everybody wants, the one that that means the most. Even if you take the basketball stars in the US, like whenever they bring up Kobe’s stats, it's always along with everything else, Olympic golds are up there.

Do you have a favourite Olympic memory?
I think my favourite Olympic memory, I'd have to say, I think was… it’s a tough one. I remember watching Usain Bolt. I remember watching Allyson Felix get a silver in, maybe it was Athens, and my heart broke for her. But then kind of seeing her develop and become the icon that she is today has been a joy to watch. And also nice to race as well - really cool!

But I think my favourite memory would be ‘super Saturday’ at 2012. I was a pro at that point, I just signed my first Nike deal. But I was a bit young, I wasn't eligible for the London Olympics - we were kit carrying to help. And at first, when we got super Saturday, we were a bit upset that we weren't going to be trackside for Usain Bolt.

But we absolutely hit the jackpot. We got Jess [Ennis-Hill], Greg [Rutherford] and Mo [Farah] winning their Olympic gold. And as a Brit and being in that stadium at that time, it was something that I just honestly, I don't think is ever going to be replicated again.

I can't see even any other country in track and field replicating that environment that day, because for the home team to win three goals within the space of ten minutes.... And the noise and the emotion of the crowd was something that I personally had never experienced at that point and I still have not experienced again. Despite having competed around the world, and being trackside for many a world record, I’ve ever never replicated it.

It was just the intensity of emotion from mainly the spectators that kind of also changed my perspective on my own career and my own goals, because I always wanted to be the best in the world.

But you spend so much training and it's a very individual sport, it's a very self-motivated thing. But when you see how you kind of just take your talent and do the absolute most that you can with it… And you see how that affects other people and the moments that it gives them, I kind of realised that I have I have a bit of a gift in a way. I can make people really happy and really give them some core life memories by just kind of being successful in my own goal. And I think that's a unique thing that entertainers kind of have. So that's definitely my favourite Olympic memory.

What are your personal goals for Paris 2024?
My personal goals are to win Paris 2024. As long as I kind of run really fast in my own events. I actually think as a relay team as well, we have the opportunity to win. I really think that the women's relay, we could do that.

How excited are you for the return of the Olympics to Europe?
I've been to Rio and Tokyo. Anybody that's kind of in the biz knows that those two Games were a bit anomalies in their own kind of way. So, I'm really excited to, fingers crossed, have what might be more normal Olympics. And that's not just normal because of the timezone because obviously Beijing and the others were all phenomenal.

But in terms of mainly crowds, [I’m] really excited. I was in Paris the other day and I don't know if I ruffled a few feathers. But I did say, I was talking to the French press, and I was like, ‘Paris to me is like a a home Olympics’. I don't think I should say that but I was like, no, it's an hour away from home.

I'm from Kent in England. So, I'm nearer to France, nearer to Paris, than I am Scotland. So, for me and my friends like it’s close enough, it's like a home Olympics. So, I'm mega excited. They can all just hop on the Eurostar two hours come and watch.

And also, being on this time zone is essential because even for a European or British person, like just being on TV at 7pm, 9pm, 10pm those core times are essential. I've got really good friends but when they're waking up at 8am to watch me. Or when we just had the World Champs for athletics in Oregon, and then we they were getting up at like 3am, that was a lot that was definitely a lot so happy that it's back in Europe.

Programming schedule to mark one year until Paris 2024, Wednesday 26 July
20:00-20:30 CEST: One Year To Dream on Eurosport 1 and discovery+ (selected markets)
20:30-21:30 CEST: Paris, La Vie Sportive (Part 1) on Eurosport 1 and discovery+ (selected markets)
21:30-22:30 CEST: Paris, La Vie Sportive (Part 2) on Eurosport 1 and discovery+ (selected markets)
22:30-22:40 CEST: The Olympians on Eurosport 1 and discovery+ (selected markets)