Adam Gemili inspired by Olympics run after ‘terrible’ effort to reach European Championships 2018 final

Fastest loser: Adam Gemili
Getty Images for European Athletics

Adam Gemili will take inspiration from his performance in the 200metres at the Rio Olympics after what he described as one of the worst runs of his career.

Gemili snuck into Thursday's final after qualifying as fastest loser to give him a tough draw in lane two, a repeat of the position from which he missed bronze two years ago by three-thousandths of a second.

“I’ve a tough lane draw but I ran the Olympic final in lane two and just missed out on a medal,” he said. “I’ll give it my all and technically run a far better race.”

Britain have been the sprint kings in Berlin, with Dina Asher-Smith and Zharnel Hughes winning 100m titles. And Gemili is hoping to feed off their success in his own sprint final.

“That was a truly terrible run — one of the worst — but I’m feeling quite inspired by Dina and Zharnel,” he said. “Everyone went nuts as it’s the first time in Britain we’ve seen that. I hope it’s my time to do the same.”

The 24-year-old mouthed “rubbish” to the stands after sneaking his final berth but was critical of event organisers after being made to sit in a new hot seat for fastest losers under the eye of the camera to see whether they’ve qualified or not. “I don’t know who’s idea that was but that’s horrible for the athletes waiting in terms of recovery and also it’s not a nice place to be, with a camera in your face,” he said.

Gemili was also critical of the new format for the sprints at this year’s championships, whereby the highest-ranked sprinters are given a first-round bye.

He added: “That round in the morning is so important to feel the track, feel your way through. I know a lot of people are talking about the two rounds instead of three and I’m not a massive fan.

“It takes away from being at a championships. Most people can blast two rounds but three rounds, that’s what separates the best people.”

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