‘Stressed’ Gemili nearly quit athletics for football

ADAM GEMILI has revealed he almost quit athletics last summer to try to play professional football.

The British sprinter says he fell out of love with the sport last year amid the controversy over his then coach Rana Reider, who was placed under investigation for sexual misconduct. Gemili (below) crashed out in the 200 metres heats at the World Championships in Oregon in July and initially blamed the ‘bad press’ over his relationship with Reider for his poor performance.

The 29-year-old eventually split with the American coach the following month, almost a year after he was told to cut ties by UK Athletics, and moved to work under Marco Airale in Italy. But that was not before Gemili had considered giving up athletics and returning to football — which he played competitively until 2012, at Dagenham & Redbridge and then on loan at Thurrock. ‘I basically quit the sport, I didn’t have any interest,’ he said after finishing second in the men’s 60 metres at Saturday’s World Indoor Tour Final in Birmingham. ‘I didn’t enjoy getting up and training. I hated it and that was because of all the stressful stuff which was going on. The mental part of it plays such a big part. ‘I was going back to football. Football was what I came from originally, so that was one of the options for me. I reached out to a few clubs and they said, “Come and do some training with us”. One was in the Championship and one was in League One.

‘It was a case of, “Do I quit and go back to football and try it? Maybe make a bit of money and enjoy my last few years of sport? Or do I commit to this?”.

‘I sat down with my family and friends and we decided I’ve still got a lot more I want to give in this sport. I’ve still got unfinished business.’

Gemili admits he regrets staying with Reider in Florida for as long as he did, having found a new lease of life under Airale in Padua, near Venice.

‘I’m so glad I made the change, I wish I had done it a bit sooner,’ he said. ‘If I had left a bit earlier, maybe last year would have gone differently.

‘There were reasons for me staying, but it didn’t work out. At some point I will speak about my side of that story and how much it really affected me.’