Asha Solette Philip (born 25 October 1990) is an English sprinter and former junior gymnast specialising in double mini-trampoline. She was the first British woman to achieve a global

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

title at any age-group, winning gold at the 2007 World Youth Championships aged 16. Following a serious knee injury in gymnastics in a championship in Quebec at 17, and a rehabilitation period of several years, she returned to athletics full-time in 2014, winning gold at the European Athletics Championships in the 4 × 100 metres relay for Great Britain, and bronze in the same event at the Commonwealth Games for England. She won her first senior individual title in 2017, claiming gold at the

2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held between 3 and 5 March 2017 at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the second time this event was held in the city after the 1969 European Indoor Games, 1969 edition then known a ...

60 metres for women, and with

Dina Asher-Smith Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith (born 4 December 1995) is a British sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. Internationally competing since 2011, she holds national records in all three sprint events, making her the fastest British ...

, Desiree Henry and

Daryll Neita Daryll Saskia Neita (born 29 August 1996) is a British sprinter. She won a silver medal in the 200 metres at the 2024 European Championships along with bronze in the 100 metres at the 2022 European Championships, 2022 Commonwealth Games and i ...

formed part of the Great Britain 4 × 100 m relay squad which won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2016 Rio Games. She also won silver medals in the same event at the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and 2019 World Championships. A noted fast starter and 60 metre sprinter, Philip generally runs the first leg on relay duty. Domestically, Philip is a 10-time national champion with six victories indoors over 60 metres, and four outdoors over 100 metres.

Career

Philip had competed in

double mini trampoline Double mini trampoline, sometimes referred to as double mini or DMT, is a gymnastics discipline within trampolining. Participants perform acrobatic skills on an apparatus smaller than a regular competition trampoline. The apparatus has both an a ...

since aged 4. She was a World Junior Champion on double mini-trampoline, winning gold in the junior (15–16 years old) girls category in the world age competition in Eindhoven, Netherlands. In July 2007, Philip won the World Youth Athletics Championships gold in the 100 metres, but shortly afterwards suffered a serious

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

injury representing Great Britain in the double-mini team event at the senior Trampoline World Championships in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, which halted her sporting career entirely for three years. This ruled her out of a chance at selection for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China. On her return from injury, Philip completed solely in athletics, and was part of the Great Britain teams that won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 metres relay at the

2014 IAAF World Relays The 2014 IAAF World Relays were held in May 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau, the Bahamas, Bahamas. The event was the first edition of the IAAF World Relays. There were five events for each gender. In men's and women's 4 × 100 metres and 4 × 400 ...

, and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2014 European Championships. In the same year, representing England, she won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay and finished fourth in the 100 metres final at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

. In 2016, she competed at the Olympic Games in Rio. Philip reached the semi-finals of the 100 metres, but did not qualify for the finals. Philip then went on to win a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay, along with teammates Desiree Henry,

and

. The quartet set a new British record with a time of 41.77 seconds.

Personal life

Born in

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

, East London to an

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

n father and a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n mother, Philip attended Connaught School for Girls in

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

. She graduated from

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

in 2012, with a BA (Hons) degree in drama.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philip, Asha Living people 1990 births People from Leyton Athletes from the London Borough of Waltham Forest British female trampolinists English female sprinters British female sprinters Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists World Youth Championships in Athletics winners European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners Alumni of Kingston University Black British sportswomen English people of Antigua and Barbuda descent Sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century English sportswomen People educated at Connaught School for Girls