By Max Hall
Adam Gemili breezed through his heat of the men’s 200m at the Commonwealth Games and said he is out for redemption after going out in the heats at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The Blackheath & Bromley Harriers sprinter blamed the bad press he had to field in the US for his no-show, after his Florida-based coach Rana Reider – accused of sexual misconduct – was cautioned by police at the event.
“You can’t hang on to those things,” said Gemili after winning his heat at the Alexander Stadium with a time of 20.92 seconds.
“Eugene was a disappointing one for myself, but this was always in the back of my mind, to come and get some redemption here so I’m going to try my best to do that.
“It was an early start for us all so we were all trying to get through with as little energy as possible,” said the 28-year-old former Dartford Grammar pupil.
“I felt like I did that, quite comfortably into the semis, so tomorrow I’ve got to run my heart out.”
The medal hope paid tribute to the crowd at a packed stadium in Birmingham.
“It’s ridiculous. That was the morning session and it’s sold out like this and the noise was just ridiculous,” he said.
“In London 2012, I was one of the lucky athletes to experience that atmosphere and, honestly, it was breathtaking today.
“We need to host more events in the UK because surely there’s a market to watch the track. It’s just about how we do that.”
Gemili would not be drawn on Reider, stating only: “After the championships I’ll talk about that.”
Pictured top: Gemili after today’s heat (Picture: Max Hall)
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