Dina Asher-Smith third as Shericka Jackson wins Diamond League 200m in Rome

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished third in the 200m at the Rome Diamond League as Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson won ahead of Elaine Thompson-Herah.

American Allyson Felix, in her final season before retirement, was seventh.

Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo was fourth in a field stacked with Olympic champions, with Britain’s Beth Dobbin ninth in 23.36 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Asher-Smith told BBC Sport she was “quite happy” with her performance, adding: “I was hoping for maybe a bit of a quicker time but it was quite a good run.

“It was a really good field so I finished very highly in that. You always want to go out and win but sometimes it’s about the journey and you have to have your eye on the championships.”

In the 1500m, Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir, continuing her return from a back injury, finished third in four minutes 4.93 seconds.

Muir kept pace with winner Hirut Meshesha and Axumawit Embaye, who finished second, but did not have the speed to overtake the Ethiopians on the final straight as they crossed the line in 4:03.79 and 4:04.53 respectively.

In the pole vault, Team GB Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw, who missed the 2022 indoor season,  was joint-second with a season’s best jump of 4.60m as American Sandi Morris won with 4.81m.

Briton Lina Nielsen finished fourth in the 400m hurdles in a personal-best 54.73 seconds, while Lawrence Okoye was fifth in the discus with 64.72m.

Jemma Reekie’s 2:00.28 was enough for ninth in an 800m race won by American Olympic champion Athing Mu in 1:57.01 – a world-leading time this season.

Jazmin Sawyers was seventh in the long jump with 6.61m as Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk won with 6.85m.

In a non-Diamond League event at the same stadium, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake came fifth in a season’s-best 20.59 seconds as American Kenneth Bednarek won in 20.01, also his best of the season.

BBC