People only see the easy side . . . they don’t see you throwing up at every training session
WHEN Adam Gemili opens his laptop to watch a film after training or video-call friends, he sees the iconic Rio de Janeiro skyline, which has replaced Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium as his screensaver. But the sprinter is determined it will work out better this time around.
Rarely is the ecstasy and agony of sport as intertwined as Gemili’s most recent 100m at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium in June. Feeling in the shape of his life and mentally unburdened after finishing his university degree a couple of weeks earlier, the 22-year-old ran 10 seconds flat in the heat, giving good cause to think he would become the sixth Briton to break the hallowed 10-second barrier later in the afternoon.
Ever the crowd-pleaser, Gemili obliged, lurching for the line to finish second in 9.97sec behind American Marvin Bracy but it was immediately apparent something was amiss as he collapsed to the ground grasping his right leg.
‘I very stupidly threw myself at the line and that’s why I tore my hamstring,’ he says smiling, five months later. ‘It was a naive race from me, I didn’t need to dig that hard. I was on the floor rolling around so I didn’t even see the clock but I knew 9.93 won and I was right next to him. I was in such excruciating pain and then I heard everyone cheer, looked at the screen and I saw the 9.97. I was in agony but just had to get myself off the track, tried to smile and clap the crowd.
‘My friends used to call me “Mr Over Ten Seconds” because I’d been trying to break the barrier for such a long time,’ he adds. ‘So it was nice that they stopped calling me that. It took a few days before the pain subsided, then I got to appreciate what I’d done.’
Gemili still travelled to the World Championships in Beijing hoping he would be fit enough to compete in the 4x100m relay but British Athletics head coach Neil Black withdrew him from the team. ‘I was upset at the time because I wanted to run,’ he says. ‘But looking back it was the right decision with Rio in mind.’
He attended most sessions anyway to support his team-mates. ‘It was good to see how much psychology plays a part,’ he says. ‘You can be in the best shape of your life but it’s the person who’s mentally the strongest who wins. It was unbelievable to see Bolt beat Justin Gatlin. Bolt wasn’t in the best physical shape but he gets on the line and is so confident.’
In his absence, two men even
younger than Gemili, 21-year-old Canadian Andre De Grasse and American Trayvon Brommell, 20, shared the bronze in the 100m, laying down the gauntlet for Rio. But Gemili has loftier goals than making the podium.
‘I have to believe every year I go out that I can achieve the top prize,’ he says. ‘Next year it’s an Olympic gold medal. People say, “Oh, that’s very unlikely, you’re still young”, but you have to believe you can because otherwise there’s no point in taking part. I don’t wake up early and come and do sessions like I did today just to make an Olympic semi-final.’
To maximise his potential, Gemili, who graduated from the University of East London with a degree in sports and exercise science, has moved up to Loughborough, where he trains with coach Steve Fudge alongside fellow sprinters James Dasaolu and Asha Philip.
‘I have been travelling back and forth from London for the last two years. Two hours on the road, three or four times a week took its toll on my body, particularly my back, so I think living near to training will be much better,’ he says. ‘And with no uni to focus on, hopefully better performances will come.’
The day Sportsmail visits him at the high performance centre in Loughborough, Gemili begins with 50m sprints on the track, followed by an extensive workout in the gym and finishes with a session on the bike in an altitude chamber. At the end he is so exhausted he is writhing on the floor in agony.
‘It was just lactic acid everywhere,’ he says. ‘But that’s what winter is. Every day you’re like that. Track and field is different to a lot of other sports because you feel shattered after every session.’ As a former footballer, who played in Chelsea’s academy and briefly for Dagenham and Redbridge, Gemili has a sense of how the demands of athletics compare.
‘People only see the easy side, you rocking up to a race,’ he says. ‘They don’t see you vomiting every session, unable to move. I know footballers are phenomenal athletes as well but I believe we train so much harder. And it’s not a glamorous footballer’s lifestyle. Our downtime is spent sleeping and watching TV and we’ve just started going to the bingo on Mondays and Thursdays.
‘You can’t be in athletics for financial gain. You can make a bit of money if you get to the top but you have to be in this for the love of it. What drives me is being a good role model, making family and friends and myself proud.’
After revelations about doping in Russian athletics and allegations of corruption at the top of the IAAF, clean athletes are trying to revive the public’s faith. One battle is recruiting young athletes. ‘Getting youngsters committed (is a challenge) because a lot of them go to university and get swayed by an alternative lifestyle,’ says Gemili. ‘But I think it is up to athletes to show they are having fun and make it look like a good option.’
With an almost permanent smile on his face, it seems Gemili is the right man for the job.