GEMILI A MAN IN A HURRY
ADAM GEMILI is in a rush. Not only in regard of getting from blocks to tape, but also in n his wider objective - of making up p for the time he has as lost to injuries and the whims of selectors.
The latter two were on his mind when he stole the show at the British trials last month, when he emerged from a pair of brutally difficult years to qualify to run both the 100m and 200m at the World Championships, which start this week.
Driving the 25-year- old in Doha is what Gemili terms an ‘obsession’ with belatedly collecting the medals that once seemed a formality after he missed Olympic bronze by three thousandths of a second in 2016.
That he has so far failed to do so is down to a succession of hamstring problems and a selection snub for the 200m at the home worlds in London in 2017. Capping the frustration was the removal of his individual funding by UK Athletics for this season.
All of which is why Gemili keeps a document on his phone listing the comments of his doubters, and it is why he is in a hurry to start winning medals now he is finally fit and back in form.
‘It feels like I am making up for lost time,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘When you struggle for a couple of seasons, time just flies by. I am 25 now. I came into this sport as an 18-year-old, when it was all easy. You get older, you lose a few years, and you never know what is going to happen with your body.
‘Any chance I get now to race I will give my best shot to show people I can still be one of the best in the world. I feel I have Sprint king out to get back on track in Doha shown that in the past but people forget quickly in track and field. I just missed out in Rio in 2016 and a year later people thought I was finished. It is quite a brutal sport like that. Making up for lost time is something I relish trying to do in Doha.
‘I have an obsession about getting individual medals. Relay medals are great and obviously winning the ( 100m) relay gold at London 2017 with my mates was amazing. ‘But individually, that is what matters. Everyone does this for individual medals. You’re judged on your silverware, what you leave the sport with.’ Gemili, who won European 200m gold in 2014, added: ‘ Hopefully I can go out to Doha and show everyone that I am not the forgotten man, which a lot of people have labelled me as. ‘I live for the environment at a championships, from the smell of the warm-up track to getting the new kit. That is the place I always want to be. But I am not going to make up the numbers.’ The British 200m champion indicated he might reveal the contents of the document on his phone if he wins a medal in Doha or at the Tokyo Olympics next summer. He said: ‘I don’t look at it that often but it is nice to use it as fuel. It is maybe not the best thing to do but I don’t use it in a way that is negative. It is a positive thing to drive me to work hard. If I ever come back with an individual world or Olympic medal, or do a book, then maybe I will put that document out there. It is pretty brutal. ‘But it helps drive me, so that is a good thing.’