Greg Rutherford leaves it to the last jump to qualify for the long jump final at the Rio Olympics.
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Asher-Smith, who was crowned European 200m champion last month, said she was inspired by the exploits of the three British gold medal-winners – despite initially feeling disappointed at missing out on the blue riband event of the men’s 100m.
His progress maintained the possibility of a repeat of Super Saturday when he, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah won gold on the same night at London 2012.
The 29-year-old will now defend his title against challengers including China’s Jianan Wang and Jeff Henderson of the United States, who qualified in first and second place with jumps measuring 8.24m and 8.20m.
“For me it’s one of these where you draw on all the experiences that you’ve had”.
“I thought, “I was pleased with that, and I thought as I got out of the pit, ‘A nice big distance” and then I saw the red flag go up. Now I know where to start from on the runway you may see something good”.
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“Going into the final round I definitely wasn’t as stressed as my family were at home”, he added.
