English sprinter Adam Gemili is delighted the likes of 2011 world champion Yohan Blake and South Africa’s new sprinting sensation Akani Simbine are grabbing the headlines ahead of the men’s 100m.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games 100m silver medallist has quietly built up a reputation as a genuine championship performer and he likes his chances of stepping up to the very top of the podium on 9 April .
“When you have Jamaicans and South Africans who have run crazy fast times and former world champions, people will look at them and think ‘right, those guys are set to win’, but on the day, at a championships, it is never as easy as ABC,” Gemili says.
“I have competed with these guys for years and know that if I run to my best, then I should be in the mix and challenging.
“I am not there to fill lanes, I am not there to make up the numbers and make other people look good, I am there to show people what I sacrificed and why it’s worth it.”
Gemili possesses another ingredient, which has, countless times, proved priceless in sport: a burning desire to prove people wrong. Last summer Gemili claims he was forced to run in the British trials ahead of the London 2017 Athletics World Championships despite the fact he was still recovering from a hamstring injury. The three-time European Championship gold medallist could only finish sixth in the 200m and was not selected for either individual sprint event.
“Missing out on that individual spot at a home world championships really took its toll,” Gemili admits. “Mentally it was hard to come back from.”
.    The fact that he did manage to bounce back, in time to run the second leg of Great Britain’s World Championship gold medal winning 4x100m relay performance, is not only a testament to his character but also further evidence of his famed ability to peak when it matters.
“I made my peace with it, I thought, ‘you know what, let’s work and get myself in the relay team’,” Gemili says. “Because what is (even) harder as a relay runner is that you don’t have an individual event at the championships to prove your form and fitness and show the selectors what shape you are in – I had to do all of that in the training sessions.
“I wanted to show them that although I had been injured I was still an athlete they could put their trust in.
“They did put faith in me and it was one of the best moments of my career.”