by Stuart Weir
British sprinter Darryl Neita finished 4th in the tremendous Women’s 100 meters. Stuart Weir provides some insights into this exciting athlete, who will compete in the 200 meters starting Sunday morning, August 4, 2024.
Darryl Neita is fourth in the world.
I was so pleased for Darryl and yet gutted for her. Fourth in the world is brilliant, but just outside the medals. By 0.04 seconds, to be precise. The semi-finals were stacked; making the final was an achievement in itself. To run a mighty race and finish fourth – very commendable. I loved her comment after the prelim: “I feel great – coming into the Games, it is just about trusting myself, staying composed, and just being Daryll Neita, and I’ll be fine.” Knowing Darryl as I do, she will feel exactly as I said in the first sentence.
Sometimes, when you speak to an athlete, you feel that they are reading a statement prepared by their PR agent after checking with their lawyer. Darryl says it like it is! In 2016, aged 19, she ran in the Rio Olympics, missing out on the semi-finals by two-hundredths a second. I sympathized with her, but her reply was, “No, I ran tragically badly.”
When she started running sub 11 – only the second British athlete to do so – I once congratulated her. She thanked me and said I could not allow sub 11 to seem unique. It has got to become normal.
In early 2021, she ran 11.09, 11.08, 11.06, and 11.04. Then it happened in Tokyo in the preliminary: 10.96. In the semi, her official time was 11.00, but as the clock stopped at 10.9993, Darryl was counting that one! She followed that with Lausanne 10.96 and Zurich 10.93. Sub 11 was indeed becoming normal.
Darryl made two decisions to further her career. She left the UK and her coach of five years, Jonas Dodoo, to work with Rana Reider in the USA. When British Athletics advised (as required) GB athletes to leave Reider, she went to Italy to work with Marco Airale, whose group now includes Adam Gemili, Jeremiah Azu, and Amy Hunt.
She says of her coach: “I think Marco is an absolute genius. He ticks every single box; he covers everything. No corners are cut. We train very hard. He’s just dedicated, focused, and passionate about what he does. He wants to get the best out of us. It’s great. He’s a good coach! Marco is just so refreshing. Working with somebody who is so hungry and dedicated to what he does is just so nice. He loves track and field. It is literally his passion. And I love track and field, so it’s nice to be around someone just focused on wanting to be better and bringing out the best in you. He creates a light-hearted environment for you to focus on the training and have some fun. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel happy that I have found a coach I can be with for the rest of my career. It’s a really nice environment”.
She assessed that 10.96 for fourth place in this week’s Olympic final: “It’s super tough. Words can’t describe how I am feeling right now. I was so close to that medal that I had dreamed of my whole life, but I do think I put together a good race, and it was competitive.
I can just bring this into the 200s now. At least I can go out there again and contest for a medal. It was OK. I overlooked the conditions. I’m from the UK, and it rains.
“I put together a good race. It’s the Olympic final, and I came fourth—the last Olympic final, I came last, so it’s amazing progression, but I really wanted that medal. So I am going to carry this feeling that I have into the 200m.”
Arguably, Darryl is more suited to the 200m and then the 100 m. She has a chance to prove that this week.
