Dina Asher-Smith really couldn't find a US school with both a good history program and Sprinting prowess??

Harvard

Do you realize what an anomaly it is for a sprinter to be intelligent and academically motivated?

Sounds like really dumb reasoning. Florida State or whatever school mentioned is plenty good enough for an undergrad. I don't know anything about Harvard's sprint program, but I reckon neither does Asher-Smith (based on the quote of the day).

Perhaps she sees the wisdom in not competing or trying to compete from January through September.

The weakness of the American system for a top performer is that it tends to compromises an athlete's competitiveness for peaking late summer.

It's just too long of a year.

She should have gone to Oregon. I hear it has great academics and once your there you can do anything!

lmao @ "history program"

Could a bright American kid comment on the level of academics and athletics at King College in the U.K.? I can't.

It doesn't sound like Asher-smith or her advisors have a grasp on the U.S. system either.

Stanford? Harvard, which does have excellent sprint coaching, or many other places could provide a wonderful combination of the two.

Sounds like she is comfortable where she is with her coaching and environment. But making such a statement as she did doesn't have me counting her or her advisors amongst the best and brightest. Some people simply don't like change, and moving to another country is a big change. but to make such a blanket statement sounds like a "lame excuse" to convince herself or those around her she didn't squander a "better" opportunity.

It's ok to stay home, but please don't think there aren't great combinations of academics and track and field in the United States. Some even offer the addition of great weather and an abundance of resources provided by the revenue of basketball and football. And she could still attend a great history grad program after maximizing the knowledge of a history dept at a U.S. university.

She didn't want the extra work of learning how to speak American.

Why do so bloody many Brits need to have hyphenated names?

When she gets married to, let's say, Joe Jones-Johnson, wtf are kids going to be named???

jingo jango wrote:

Why do so bloody many Brits need to have hyphenated names?

When she gets married to, let's say, Joe Jones-Johnson, wtf are kids going to be named???

The real question is why this bothers you so much and why this seems like such an insurmountable problem to you. Do you think two people with hyphenated names have yet to have a child together??

Few things in life are as predictable or as annoying as people trumpeting how much better, academically, their school is than others.

Few things in life are as sad as people thinking others should think more of them because of what school they went to.

The letsrun title is misleading. It's not clear what she was offered at Harvard/Florida. She may just have received one of hundreds of thousands of promotional pieces they send out every year, she may have received much more.

jingo jango wrote:

Why do so bloody many Brits need to have hyphenated names?

When she gets married to, let's say, Joe Jones-Johnson, wtf are kids going to be named???

It's not because of a marriage, it's because her parents are not married.

It's a very common thing these days for Black British kids to take both their mother and father's last name.

She actually raises a good point. There isn't a great deal of intersection for top-level academics and sprinting. I'm talking about best of the best, not just "good". For distance running, Stanford would be the natural choice (I'm a Berkeley alum so that's really saying something but I hate our coach). A team like Georgetown or Dartmouth might be close seconds.

But Stanford is not a powerhouse for sprinting and neither are any of the top academic programs.

I don't know anything about sprinting in England but the criticism makes sense to me.

Maybe she wants the money? Ajee W goes to classes. Mary Cain said she will be going to classes. Both are raking in more money than they are paying out for tuition. With British sprinting what it is, it is probably easier for her to get lottery funding, in addition to corporate sponsorships.

i am thrilled that this pompous young lady stayed in england.

i can only hope the scholarship money went to an American.

i imagine the truth is that she got a pre-read a both of these schools, and her parents had to contribute too much.

so she stayed in england and pays only 14k.

adsfadgdsf wrote:

She actually raises a good point. There isn't a great deal of intersection for top-level academics and sprinting. I'm talking about best of the best, not just "good". For distance running, Stanford would be the natural choice (I'm a Berkeley alum so that's really saying something but I hate our coach). A team like Georgetown or Dartmouth might be close seconds.

But Stanford is not a powerhouse for sprinting and neither are any of the top academic programs.

I don't know anything about sprinting in England but the criticism makes sense to me.

No. There is no such thing as top level academics. The difference between undergrad at different schools is generally nonexistent.

Yes

As usual English humour goes straight over American heads.