Britain’s Adam Gemili has announced his retirement after 14 years at the top of athletics.
In a matter of months, Adam Gemili went from being a Dagenham and Redbridge Academy athlete to world junior 100m champion and on the starting line at the 2012 London Olympics.
Gemili left Chelsea’s academy at the age of 15 after training with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and went on to compete against Jamaican legends Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake at the Olympics three years later.
Now the Londoner has announced his retirement from athletics and will join the Premier League club part-time as a speed coach, sharing his wisdom with Chelsea’s current crop of young players.
Gemili made his Olympic debut at the age of 18, competing against Jamaica’s Yohan Blake.
“I had dabbled in track and field a little bit, but never really pursued it. I remember suddenly getting interested in the sport during training and picking it up quickly,” Gemili said.
“I keep winning races and before I know it, six months later it’s my home Olympics, and I’m lining up to represent Great Britain thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’
“Honestly, this is the most impostor syndrome I’ve ever experienced and I was thinking, ‘How could this happen to me?’
“Six months ago no one would have asked me for an autograph or to take a picture with me, and now all of a sudden I’m at my home Olympics.
“Everyone knew who I was, I was a young sprinter on the block, it was a really crazy time not only for me but for my family.
“I was watching Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake on TV and all of a sudden I was in the call room and I looked over and Usain was sitting there.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘Lock in, come on, focus’ – I was a fangirl.
“I was walking in the Olympic Village in London and Serena Williams walked in front of me and I thought, ‘What’s going on? I was playing for Dagenham five or six months ago.’ I never felt like I belonged.”
Gemili’s big breakthrough into the sport came within three years of leaving Chelsea’s academy
Now that Gemili is retiring with a wealth of medals under his belt, including the 4x100m gold at the 2017 World Championships in London and four gold medals in Europe, he has gone back to what it all started to help the next generation of Chelsea players.
“I’m just a normal guy from Dartford. We didn’t grow up going through a lot,” Gemili added. “We just worked hard and I focused on my sport.
“I hope one or two of them (academy players) take inspiration from that and say, ‘I know, it doesn’t matter if I can’t do it this way, I’ll find a way to succeed.’
“It doesn’t matter what you do. My story is my own, and I hope many people can make their own.”
“I really hope that they go on to become super famous, rich, successful football players and be able to call them up and say, ‘Oh, I need tickets to this game,’ but the reality is that may not be the case.
“But then they might be able to think, ‘Adam used to do that, and then he became a professional athlete in another sport, so maybe I can do it too.'”
“These kids are so talented and they’re going to excel in everything they do. These 12, 13, 14-year-old kids are a whole different breed.
“It’s even crueler being in[academy football]now. When I was growing up there was no social media and now everything you do is online.
“You have to work on the pressure, the performance, because everyone can judge anyone.”
Gemili placed fourth in the over 200 meters at the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Championships, and fourth in the 4×100 meters in 2023.
Gemili offers a unique perspective on improving speed through his background in soccer and track and field, and emphasizes that while every sport is different, the key is learning to feel ‘fast’.
He plans to establish his own “academy” to help sprinters, soccer players and young athletes in other sports learn how to optimize their speed.
“Knowledge is power. If I can teach these children everything I know, I can die happy,” he added.
“Soccer is a very tough sport, so I hope that even one or two people can feel some inspiration from my story. I never intended to be an athlete.”
“A lot of them won’t reach the top level, they won’t reach the top of the Premier League.
“But if I can teach them the skills I’ve gained, maybe one or two of them will go into athletics, I don’t really know.”
Home World Championships ‘inspire the nation’
Gemili won gold in the 4x100m at the London 2017 World Championships in Athletics, along with Nethanil Mitchell-Blake, CJ Udger and Daniel Talbot.
The bid process for the 2029 World Athletics Championships is underway, but British Athletics’ bid has been dealt a blow by reports that West Ham are yet to agree to use the London Stadium.
Gemili reflected on the experience of competing in stadiums at the 2012 and 2017 World Championships and said the influence of home championships cannot be overlooked.
“Not only does it provide great opportunities for athletes, it provides inspiration for a city and a nation,” he said.
“You never know whether that moment will shape the future 10, 15 years from now, because there were definitely people in that stadium in 2017 who were inspired by that performance and are now in the England team.
“I really hope they can reach an agreement, because sports should be celebrated and soccer and athletics bring a lot of joy and sparkle to people.
“It brings this kind of community together, especially in London, when the city has felt so divided over the last few years.”
