Gemili lashes out
Brit sprinter blames ‘bad press’ after he fluffs 200m
FOR Adam Gemili this had been a difficult year and when the British sprinter settled into his blocks at the World Championships in Oregon he was clearly carrying the weight of what he called ‘relentless bad press’ about his coach, Rana Reider.
Gemili crashed out after coming fourth in his 200 metres heat in a pedestrian 20.60sec — his slowest time of the season — and afterwards he hit out at the coverage of Reider, his 52-year- old American coach who is under investigation by the US Center for SafeSport for multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Reider was not accredited for these championships and last November British athletes were told to ‘cease all association’ with him or face losing their funding. British sprinter Daryll Neita subsequently decided to leave his training group but Gemili and Laviai Nielsen decided to stay, which led to them being removed from UK Athletics’ World Class Programme.
Reider was alleged to have had an affair with an 18-year- old British athlete in 2014 when he was sprints and relays lead at UK Athletics.
Concerns were raised with the governing body following a series of alleged incidents at the World Junior Championships in July that year, when several members of the British delegation were alarmed to learn the teenage athlete in question was reportedly visiting the then 44-year-old’s room at the team hotel for treatments.
On Monday, Gemili admitted the coverage of his coach had taken a huge toll both on and off the track. ‘I have taken a battering and it is showing,’ the 28- year- old told the BBC. ‘There has been a lot of bad press around my set-up and me and it’s been relentless. Every week there’s been something and it’s just taken its toll.’
Reider, who runs the Tumbleweed Track Club in Florida, denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer, Ryan Stevens, said the allegations are ‘unvetted’ and ‘unproven’.
The coach was cautioned by Eugene police on Saturday after being spotted in the warmup area but a day later he was seen coaching from outside the venue’s perimeter.
Gemili, who is also part of Britain’s squad for the 4x100m later this week, called for better safeguarding for athletes in situations such as those he faced this year. ‘We need to do more to protect athletes’ wellbeing. It’s the press, to be honest. It’s been really tough.
‘I am old enough now that I should be able to separate it but I haven’t really been subject to this amount of press before. I’m just a normal guy. I am not a superstar. I want to run fast every day and enjoy the sport and make people happy.’
Gemili later took to Twitter to apologise for his remarks in the mixed zone. ‘No excuse other than
I wasn’t good enough.
The blame is on me,’ he wrote. ‘I also shouldn’t have made comments about the press when interviewed. I do understand they have a job to do but it’s just been a lot to deal with and hope you can understand that.’