A difficult couple of years for Team GB's Adam Gemili almost culminated in his exit from athletics after the sprinter came close to a football comeback last year.
Gemili was only 18 when he first made Great Britain's Olympic squad for London 2012, going on to finish fourth in the 200 metres four years later in Rio de Janeiro. However, almost a decade has passed since he last clinched individual gold at the elite level, having secured 200-metre gold at the 2014 European Championships.
First-place finishes have been largely restricted to relay events since then, with Gemili falling out of the 200-metre semi-finals at last year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. It was after that disappointment the 29-year-old considered a return to his first sport, which would see him swap spikes for a pair of football boots.
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"I was going back to football," said former Chelsea youth player Gemili, per The Sun. "I reached out to a few clubs and they said, ‘Come and do some training with us.’ I can’t say the clubs but there was a Championship club and a League One club.
“No Premier League clubs—maybe one day—but Chelsea are great and they’ve always said I can go down and do some stuff with them whenever I want."
The Blues' scattergun approach to spending over the past year has been so varied, it wouldn't be a surprise if Gemili did get signed up for Graham Potter's team. But the speedster appears fully committed to the track after a brief wobble in confidence.
Despite being in what many would still consider the prime of an athlete's career, Gemili was forced to consider whether his best days in sport may have passed. However, he's now convinced that he has it in himself to reach new heights in sprinting, provided he can stay fit.
“After the Commonwealth Games it was a big, ‘Do I quit and go back to football and try it, maybe go into the National League and make a bit of money and enjoy my last few years of sport — or do I commit to this?’ And I thought, ‘Do you know what, I’ve got unfinished business.’
"I’ve come fourth at the Olympics and the world champs (2019). I’ve always been just about close and I believe that if I can get myself in shape, I can run with the best.”
As well as spending a considerable amount of time in Chelsea's academy, Gemili was on the books of Dagenham & Redbridge, as well as making 12 appearances in the Isthmian League on loan at Thurrock. He also spent a year with Championship outfit Reading prior to committing fully to athletics.
Having "basically quit" running after losing sponsors and momentum in his career, Gemili added he's "finding the love again" as he looks to regain his place among Britain's top athletes. The right run-up over the next year could even result in an unexpected place on Team GB for the Paris 2024 Olympics, though Gemili has considerable competition in front of him if he's to make that dream a reality.
