Discipline, dedication, and a little delusion.
As Daryll Neita prepares for her third Olympic Games, the 27-year-old British sprinter believes anything is possible in Paris.
A five-time global medallist as an ever-present in the British women’s 4x100m team, including Olympic bronze at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, Neita will seek to replicate that success in the 100m and 200m as she pursues individual honours.
“My goals are through the roof. I don’t put limits on myself at all,” Neita tells BBC Sport.
“I am aiming for individual medals this summer. I don’t see why anyone shouldn’t believe they can; everyone should aim to be the best.
“It would mean the world to me. I have put in so much work to be in this position. It would be all of that hard work and dedication paying off.
“One thing I always say is: ‘Be a bit delusional.’ Believe in yourself, keep going and don’t give up.”
Described as a ‘supercar’ by coach Marco Airale, with whom she has worked since moving to Italy two years ago, Neita secured the first individual international medals of her career in 2022 with European and Commonwealth 100m bronze.
It is only three years since she finished eighth in her first global final at the Tokyo Olympics, having exited in the 100m heats on her Games debut in Rio.
But she demonstrated her exciting progress by finishing within 0.24 seconds of the podium among a star-studded 200m line-up at last summer’s World Championships.
And, in a true measure of her soaring ambitions, the British 100m champion said she was “distraught” after finishing within one hundredth of a second of a first major title at the European Championships over 200m in Rome in June.
“I have a lot of confidence going into this Olympics. For this one, I know I’ve done the work,” says Neita.
“Reaching the Olympic final in Tokyo was absolutely huge. I had one mission, to make the final, and it was an amazing achievement.
“I came last but it gave me so much motivation. It was so special to achieve something so monumental in my career.”
Following a winter training block which she describes as an “insane operation”, Neita could not have hoped for a more promising start to this Olympic year.
Certainly, as far as season-opening races go, beating the world 100m champion is not a bad place to start.
Neita was beaming as she cruised to an impressive 200m victory in 22.62 seconds at the Suzhou Diamond League, leaving American Sha’Carri Richardson – also a world medallist over that distance – among those trailing behind.
But Neita, a winner over 100m at the Doha Diamond League two weeks later, is under no illusion about the challenge she faces in her bid to make the Olympic podium.
“I’m racing the fastest women of all time,” Neita says. “The women’s sprints are just relentless at the moment and you need to be strong, fast and mentally fit.
“My coach went absolutely crazy this winter. You always knew it was going to be a hellish day. That discipline and dedication, it’s not easy to wake up every day and do that.
“It’s the winter months when you really question things, but it’s the glorious moments in the summer that make it all worth it.
“It is like building a supercar. We’re working on a major project here. It’s an amazing journey to be part of.”
It is a journey which started when Neita, the second-fastest British woman in history, was scouted at a school sports day – and she recently launched the Daryll Neita Athletics Community to ensure the next generation have those invaluable opportunities.
As an 11-year-old, Neita recalls watching Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce competing at the Beijing 2008 Olympics on TV.
Sixteen years on, she will expect to join Jamaica’s two-time Olympic 100m champion on the start line for the Paris 2024 final, along with the likes of Richardson, world 200m champion Shericka Jackson and British team-mate Dina Asher-Smith.
“When I was watching on TV in 2008, I would never have even imagined I would go to an Olympic Games,” says Neita.
“I have come a long way. I would always say to anyone: ‘just believe’.
“If I was someone who listened to the opinions of every person who talked down to me or told me something wasn’t possible, I wouldn’t be here today.”
There has been a focus on increasing power and strength over recent months to build the foundations for a potentially exhausting Olympic schedule, should she achieve her aim of contesting the 100m, 200m and 4x100m finals.
Neita’s 100m best of 10.98 seconds, set in Doha in April, ranks 23rd in the world this year, while her 22.36secs over 200m is the 22nd-fastest time in 2024.
But, since reaching the Tokyo final three years ago, everything has been building towards peaking in Paris as she aims to become the first British woman to make an Olympic sprint podium for 64 years.
“Paris for me will be really exciting and I think the first Olympic Games where I truly believe I can do what I want to do,” says Neita.
“It has been eight years since my first Olympics and in that time I have come on so much as an athlete.
“I feel like I have done amazing in the last few years to 1721284344 be recognised by who I am and my own achievements. But, at the same time, I’m hungry for more.”
A version of this story was first published in May 2024.
