by Stuart Weir
Stuart Weir writes over 100-150 articles a year for RunBlogRun. He also does a weekly podcast for RunBlogRun with me, and we are over 100 episodes. He loves the sport, he admires the athletes and he sees it as his role to let you, the reader understand and appreciate each and every athlete. This piece on Darryl Neita is a fine one. Thanks, Stuart Weir, see you in Oregon in a few days!
Darryl Neita
Darryl Neita is in a rich vein of form. She will go to Oregon full of confidence. I have been privileged to see most of her big races and to follow her career. I have no doubt that the best is yet to come – she is, after all, just 25.
The last year has seen her transition from a good athlete to a great one. It all started with a 10.96 in the Tokyo Olympic prelim – only the second GB athlete to run sub 11. In the semi, her official time was 11.00, but as she is quick to point out, as the clock stopped at 10.999, it really is another sub 11! In Lausanne at the Diamond league late that month she ran another 10.96 followed by a 10.93 at the Weltklasse. At the 2022 British Championships, she ran 10.92 and 10.80 – both with an illegal helping wind, but you still have to run that time. Incidentally, she finished first, ahead of Dina Asher-Smith. In Paris, her time was 10.99.
One of the things that impresses me about Darryl is her honesty. In the 2016 Olympics, she missed the semi-final by a fraction of a second – “I ran tragically badly”, she told me. In Zurich when I tried to congratulate her on another sub-11, she thanked me, but insisted: “Running sub 11 has to be normal, not special because that’s the only way you’re going to get medals”.
Speaking to the British media last week she spoke about her hopes for the World Champs: “If you make the final, it’s anyone’s game. There are some stand-out ladies and these are magical times [for women sprinting]. But if you are in the right race, anything can happen. I don’t put limits on myself. GB Trials was a great performance but it was just a stepping stone. I’m in good shape. I can compete for the best and I really believe that anything can happen”.
Her new mindset was reflected in her approach to the GB champs: “In the past, I come to the national championships and finished second and third. But this year was different because I knew I was capable of winning. Last year I was in a good place but I didn’t execute a good race. This year I was focused on winning. I knew I could because I was in good form. It was really nice to win the 200 as well – disappointed not to get the qualifying time [for the World Champs at 200] but it’s OK for there are lots of championships this year.
“Making the 100 m final in Tokyo has given me a lot of confidence and makes me feel that I really do belong there. OK, I came last in that final but it was the inspiration I needed to get to work this winter so that I can place even better in the next final. It has been a journey but my confidence is high. I worked hard and I now believe this is where I am meant to be. I did well to get to the final in Tokyo but then I didn’t perform. I had run 10.96 in the heat, and 10.99 in the semi so to run 11.12 wasn’t a good progression. I was super proud that I had achieved my goal and I took a lot away from that experience but I was also thinking ‘No, I want more than that. That was my motivation for the winter – to do better because I know I can be better.
She already has two World Championship relay medals, now the target is an individual medal.
