Adam Gemili

Adam Ahmed Gemili (born 6 October 1993) is a British retired sprinter. He is now an athletics coach. Quotes Football was what I came from originally, so that was one of the options for me. I was going back to football. I reached out to a few clubs and they said, 'Come and do some training with us. I can't say the clubs. There was a Championship club, there was a League One club, no Premier League clubs yet but maybe one day. I basically quit the sport, I didn't have any interest, I didn't enjoy getting up for training. I hated it and that was because of all the stressful stuff which was going on. After the Commonwealth Games, it was a big, 'Right, do I quit and go back to football and try it, and maybe go into National League or whatever and 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 always been close and I know I believe, if I can get myself in shape, I can run with the best. I'm finding that love again. I don't make any money out of the sport, I'm not sponsored, but I love it. I've been in the sport a long time and there's still a lot I want to achieve. We'll get to Paris [Olympics] and then after Paris we'll reassess. Adam Gemili: British sprinter considered 'going back to football', February 26 2023 I was a defender, centre-back or right-back, and always played as the last man because nobody was going to get past me. I was noticeably the quickest in the Academy and having speed really helps you in football, as long as you have a good touch, can pass and tackle, get stuck in and give it some heart. Speed is much harder to teach so it was always something the coaches utilised in my game. I was dabbling in athletics a little, not a huge amount, but I ended up taking the decision in January 2012 to completely walk away from football and pursue athletics full-time. I started training with a coach in north London and was so fortunate with how quickly I picked it up. I just started running fast and ended up making the Olympic team in 2012 after training for seven or eight months. One of the hardest things to adapt to was going from a team-based sport to an individual sport. You go from being in the changing room with team-mates, living and training with them every day, to a situation where if you don’t get on the line and run then nobody else is going to run for you. In football, you can sometimes get away with an off-day but now there’s nobody else to put the work in if you don’t. The experience of being part of a football team is what really helps me with relay, I can bring the team together and I know how strong a well-bonded team can be. It doesn’t matter if you’re not the most talented because if you have that teamwork, it trumps everything. When we won the gold medal in London [at the 2017 World Championships], we weren’t the four quickest guys but we were the strongest team so we ended up winning gold in our home championships. I credit some of that to my football background and bringing that strength of a team to track and field. I can’t wait - the World Championships is what we train for all year and I’ve been training well, running fast and my body is good so I’m going out there to do my best, It’s the first time any Brit has attempted to double up and run both the 100m and 200m so it’s an exciting event for me. Hopefully I can pick up a few medals, have a good championships and it will set me up nicely for the Olympics next year in Tokyo, which is the big one. I was thinking the other day about how everything has worked out and how nuts it is that I’m competing in a completely different sport now. Dreams change and you have to be realistic. It’s just crazy how life can completely change but I’m so happy I found myself in another sport. Adam Gemili on outrunning everyone in the Chelsea Academy and his incredible new career in athletics, October 05 2019 External links Category:1993 births Category:Track and field athletes Category:Coaches and managers Category:Sportspeople from England