Tokyo Olympics: Colin Jackson on Mo Farah, Dina Asher-Smith and Team GB hopes in athletics  

In a stellar career, Colin Jackson won an Olympic silver medal, two World Championship golds, two Commonwealth golds and four European Championship golds in the 110metre hurdles.

His world record of 12.91 seconds in the discipline stood for over 10 years and it remains the British and European best almost three decades after it was set.

His voice is familiar to millions as a presenter, pundit and commentator on the BBC‘s athletics coverage.

Later this summer, Jackson will be keeping a close eye on the performances of Team GB’s athletes at the rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo.

And, as he discussed with Sportsmail, there are plenty of household names and also others armchair fans may be less familiar with who have every chance of getting on the podium.

DINA ASHER-SMITH

One of the undoubted medal favourites for Team GB in the entire Games is sprinter Dina Asher-Smith. The 25-year-old is the reigning world champion over 200 metres and completed the sprint double of gold in the 100m and 200m at the 2018 European Championship.

While the 200 is considered her stronger event, Asher-Smith laid down an impressive marker in the 100 by beating American rival Sha’Carri Richardson in wet and windy conditions at last month’s Diamond League meeting in Gateshead.

‘Dina will be feeling really positive about herself and so she should, she beat the best athletes in the world over the 100m,’ Jackson said. ‘She should be riding high.

‘But she’s also a smart athlete and she knows that come the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the athletes’ attitudes will be very, very different.

‘We know Dina has already delivered, she is a world champion over the 200m, she has won a medal in the 100m as well. You have got to put her chances of being a medallist pretty high indeed.

‘Whether it’s a gold medal, who knows, because in the 100m, she has got athletes who are potentially going to run around that 10.7 mark and Dina is going to have to find nearly half a metre of track to take gold in the 100.

‘In her favoured event, the 200, she has always performed really well. It depends on who will be her major rivals as to whether you can hang a gold medal on her neck and you should never, ever do that because sport has this opportunity to bite you on the backside!

‘Dina is not just fantastic on the track, she is wonderful off the track and very intelligent. She will play that really honest game, she won’t big herself up, she won’t put herself down. She understands that talking off the track counts for nothing.

‘She has always resolved to arrive at the championships in the best physical shape and my performance will tell. She has always done that and I don’t think she will change anything now she is one of the true global stars of athletics.’

LAURA MUIR

Middle-distance specialist Laura Muir is set to compete in her second Olympics and her big decision pre-Games is whether to concentrate on just the 1500m or double up with the 800m.

‘The 1500, is where her real gold medal chance will be,’ said Jackson.

‘I remember back in the day, I was going to long jump and hurdle at a European Championship and I got slightly injured long jumping.

‘My coach said to me, ‘it’s better having one gold medal than two fourth places’. And I thought that is a true statement so let me bin my aspirations of being the best long jumper in Europe and just let me pick up my gold medal in the hurdles.

‘I think that may be something Laura may take on board and think, ‘you know what, if I do double up with the 800m it may cause a bit of confusion and it is twice as many opportunities to make a mistake.’

‘There are lots of things that can go wrong so let’s potentially just focus on the one event, which is the 1500m, before when she gets it right, she is unbeatable.’

SIR MO FARAH

Not content with his ‘double double’ of gold medals in the 5000m and 10,000m at the 2012 and 2016 Games, the legendary Sir Mo Farah is going for a fifth gold in Tokyo.

Returning to the track after four years concentrating on running marathons, Farah, 38, will compete in just the 10,000m this time around as he bids to make history.

‘No one’s ever done five. That’s what drives me. I love to make history,’ Farah said this week as he confirmed this will be his last hurrah on the track.

Jackson appreciates it’s a big ask after so long away but believes if anyone can do it, he can.

‘Mo is one of these realistic people. We shouldn’t really hang so many expectations on someone who has taken such a long time out of the sport to come back in and just dominate,’ he said.

‘That happens very, very, very rarely. We know Mo is an incredibly talented athlete but the world of the 10,000m has moved on.

‘Because he has missed a couple of championships, the dominance that he had over people’s minds may have just diminished. When you know you’re head and shoulders above people, it does make a huge difference.

‘Now he will wear a big target on his back because people will know what he’s won and what he’s capable of. I think Mo would like to play with that a little bit [psychologically].

‘You’ll see the best of him, you’ll see him race to the very end and I’m hoping he’ll win a medal. A gold medal would be just unbelievable.

‘I’d love to see him on the rostrum either way because he’s such a talented athlete and he could break the mould and say, ‘look how old I am and I can still do it!’ It’s inspiring for so many.’

KATARINA JOHNSON-THOMPSON 

The reigning world champion will be the favourite to take gold for Britain in the heptathlon this summer.

But Johnson-Thompson’s preparations for Tokyo have been far from ideal after she suffered a serious achilles injury late last year that saw her forced to wear a protective boot for weeks.

It has meant she hasn’t competed so far this season but, according to Jackson, it would be foolish to write her off.

‘Injuries are always the bane of every athlete’s life. If you can go 18 months without getting a single injury, your level of competition skyrockets,’ he said.

‘We know Katarina has been suffering really badly and I just hope it doesn’t have an impact on her mindset. She has got a great team of people supporting and helping her.

‘What Kat has to remember is she is not just the world champion and a world class athlete in her own right but she is British record holder and better than any other heptathlete we have ever produced.

‘She has to be reminded of her potential. It doesn’t always take a record-breaking performance to win a gold medal. It doesn’t always take personal bests to be the champion.

‘I’m keeping my fingers crossed that injury doesn’t hold her back and she is able to perform as freely as she can.’

Who else should we be watching?

‘Jake Wightman has done a phenomenal job,’ said Jackson. ‘We know how great Steve Cram was but Jake is the second fastest 1500m runner in our country, only Sir Mo Farah has run faster.

‘So he has run faster than Steve Cram, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. That’s how talented this young man is.

‘Potentially he is someone who could do battle with Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway and be up there in that chase. It will be exciting to watch.

‘Hurdler Andrew Pozzi is someone I have mentioned for many years. He was coached by my coach, he is over in Italy now and things are going really well.

‘I’ve always said that Pozzi has the potential to break my British record, I’ve always said that to him.

‘He always smiles about it but I believe in him, he has just got to believe in himself that he has the ability to do it.

‘If he comes anywhere near the record at the Olympic Games he could win the title. Something around that 13-second mark could be enough to take gold.’