Gemili promises to defy doubters and realise potential on world stage
GB sprinter sick of being told best is yet to come Asher-smith ahead of the field for 200m final
‘I’m 25 years old. I need to perform on a world stage – there are no excuses now’
Most athletes avoid bold predictions, preferring to err on the side of caution. There is always another day, a future race, a chance to prove your worth later down the line.
Adam Gemili has spent his entire career being that athlete and he is fed up with it. After missing out on Olympic bronze by 0.003sec, suffering countless injuries and having to listen to people within British Athletics tell him he is not good enough, he is hoping today’s 200metres final is his time. As far as he is concerned, it has to be.
“A medal is something I’ve worked so hard for,” said Gemili, who has made European and Commonwealth podiums but never won an individual global medal.
“People have always said I should have medalled years ago. People always say ‘potential’ with me. I don’t like that word. I’m 25 years old now, if it’s not going to happen now… I need to start performing on a world stage. There’s no real excuses for not. My body’s healthy, I’ve done the training.”
As ever, it will be no easy task. Having won his heat on Sunday, Gemili replicated the feat in his semi-final last night, winning in 20.03sec. That was marginally the fourth fastest time behind Noah Lyles, Alex Quinonez and Zhenye Xie, but Gemili reckons there is more to come.
“I feel confident,” he said. “I just wanted to put in a bit more effort than yesterday, still not fire 100 per cent, but I’m getting there. I just wanted to win my semi, get a good lane for the final and once you’re there anything can happen.”
Two years ago, Gemili was not selected for the London World Championships and last year he was dropped from individual funding. People within his own governing body labelled him a relay runner and he keeps a folder on his phone with their negative quotes as fuel to spur him on. A few weeks ago he suggested he might reveal exactly what they say if he won a medal in Doha.
The day has arrived.
It looks increasingly like only an unexpected turn of events will deny Dina Asher-smith 200m gold, as she followed her 100m silver by cruising through the heats of the longer sprint yesterday while her rivals fell by the wayside.
Shelly-ann Fraser-pryce and Marie-josee Ta Lou, 100m gold and bronze medallists, opted not to contest the event, double world 200m champion Dafne Schippers withdrew injured and Blessing Okagbare, second fastest in the world this year, was disqualified.
Even Elaine Thompson looks to be a world away from the athlete who won the Olympic title three years ago, blaming a lack of sleep for finishing only second in her heat after missing out on a 100m medal the night before.
And then there was Asher-smith, recording the fastest time of the heats (22.32sec) with minimal effort. Unless Thompson can rediscover her best form in 24 hours, there looks to be no genuine challengers to a crown heading Ashersmith’s way. It is hers to lose.
One woman hoping to follow in Asher-smith’s footsteps by claiming the first global outdoor medal of her career is Laura Muir, who
insists a 1500m podium finish is still firmly in her sights despite not having competed since tearing a calf in July. Muir was consigned to training twice a day in a swimming pool after the injury prevented her from running for six weeks, but she says the calf is now “100 per cent” and she is back to full fitness.
“I can go into the competition being confident in my body, but it’s not been the most ideal preparation,” she said.
Her task has been made significantly harder by world No1 Sifan Hassan, of Holland, confirming she will also contest the event, having stormed her way to 10,000m gold.
On the most exciting night so far at these championships, Karsten Warholm won the 400m hurdles in 47.42sec, Russian neutral athlete Mariya Lasitskene cleared 2.04m to take high jump gold, and Ethiopian Muktar Edris saw off the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers to win the 5,000m title.