World Championships 2023: Dina Asher-Smith 'in amazing shape' before Budapest

Dina Asher-Smith was 19 when she became the first British female sprinter to run 100m under 11 seconds, in 2015

A historic moment had seldom felt so routine.

Exploding from the blocks, Dina Asher-Smith ran the bend to perfection.

She stormed away from the competition to win World Championship gold in dominant fashion.

With that triumph in Doha four years ago, at the age of 23, Asher-Smith became the first British woman to win a major global sprint title.

It marked the emotional culmination of a journey from being crowned world junior champion in 2014, converting the potential she had long since displayed to gold on one of the sport's biggest stages.

"I can't relate to the girl that won in Doha because I run differently," Asher-Smith tells BBC Sport.

"I'm stronger, faster, technically better and I'm more confident.

"But in terms of hunger, it's just the same. I am who I am."

The 27-year-old is preparing for her latest attempt at making a global podium at the World Championships in Budapest.

There she will bid to add to her eight world and Olympic medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay - less than one year out from the 2024 Games in Paris.

"I'd love to win. That would be fun," says Asher-Smith on her ambitions for the Worlds, which begin on Saturday, 19 August.

"I'm a medals person. They can never be taken away from you. I'm hungry and I always want to be successful.

"I feel pretty much the same as I did before I won [world gold], mainly because I don't think about it.

"I just always want to push to be better and do better."

At a memorable championships in 2019, Asher-Smith also claimed 100m silver, just three days before her 200m triumph, becoming the first British woman to win an individual sprint medal at the Worlds in 36 years.

However, her experience at last year's delayed event in Eugene proved a contrasting one.

Emotionally exhausted following the loss of her grandmother, Asher-Smith recovered from a frustrating fourth-place finish in the 100m to take 200m bronze.

But she would pull up in the relay with a hamstring injury, denying her the chance to compete at a home Commonwealth Games.

Calf cramps - caused by her period - then ended her hopes in the 100m final at last August's European Championships, where she was disappointed with a 200m silver, at the end of a challenging season.

"Going in to Budapest, I just genuinely believe I'm in a really good position," says Asher-Smith, who also saw her bid for a first individual Olympic medal hindered by injury in Tokyo.

"I'm in amazing shape physically - everything has been consistent, and in this sport consistency is king. I'm really excited.

"I don't like saying that I have done this a few times because it makes me sound old but I'm experienced and I have come into competitions from a variety of places.

"As long as you're there, you're healthy, you've done as much training as you wanted to do during the season and you believe you have all the tools to be successful, that's all you need."

An encouraging 2023 has brought steady improvement following an undefeated indoor season in which Asher-Smith improved her British 60m record.

At the London Diamond League 100m in July, she beat reigning world 200m champion Shericka Jackson - the fastest woman in the world this year - clocking a season's best time of 10.85 seconds as she finished runner-up to Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

There has been further cause for optimism over 200m, Asher-Smith's favoured distance, in which she sharpened from 22.61 secs in May to 22.23 secs in Monaco two months later.

But fierce competition awaits the Briton in the wide-open women's sprint events in Budapest, including Jamaica's five-time 100m world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Americans Sha'Carri Richardson and Gabrielle Thomas, and Julien Alfred of St Lucia - in addition to Jackson and Ta Lou.

"The adrenaline rush, particularly in the 100m, when they say 'on your marks' and you can hear a pin drop - even athletes who have retired say there are not many things that give you that feeling," says Asher-Smith, a four-time European gold medallist.

"I always say if you believe you can win, you might, but if you don't believe you can, then you definitely won't."