Outstanding indoor talent out in the cold

ATHLETICS/Profile of David Gillick: That the name David Gillick suddenly tops the European indoor list for 400 metres has taken many people by surprise. Not since Fanahan McSweeney, in 1970, has an Irishman led this event, but Gillick's rise to the top is all the more exceptional considering he's only 21 and has to do all his training without the use of an indoor track.

Those who watched BBC's coverage of the British AAA championships from Sheffield on Sunday will have heard of Gillick by now. Most others haven't. But after winning the AAA title Gillick has come away with a 46.43-second clocking that not only tops the season's list, but also makes him a medal favourite for the European Indoor championships in Madrid in just over two weeks' time.

Closer observers of Irish athletics will remember Gillick as a member of the Irish relay quartet that won bronze medals at the World Indoors in Budapest last year. Yet this weekend's performance marks the greatest breakthrough for the DIT student and member of Dundrum South Dublin athletic club.

Gillick won Saturday's heat in a personal best of 46.96 and then ran his 46.43 to win the semi-final - before clocking out with a final victory in 46.45. Each time, he looked as if he'd plenty more in the tank, but he sees his recent improvement as nothing more than natural progression.

"After last summer I just went straight back into the training," he says. "I didn't take much of a break, and worked more on speed endurance and also in the gym, and that's just got me a little stronger.

"And I think my actual running form has improved a lot. I'm definitely not tying up the way I used to, and I'm able to maintain my form a lot longer. All that comes with greater strength."

He wanted to run two fast times in succession at the weekend to emulate the demands of Madrid, but he admits he was "gob-smacked" when he saw the 46.43. The next best European clocking is David Canal of Spain (46.57), although Gillick is not getting over-excited about Madrid. He's been invited to run in Birmingham this Friday night, but is more intent on keeping his form until the Europeans, which run from March 4th-6th.

"It's probably better that I go back into another block of training. I've raced the last four weekends in a row, so I certainly don't want to overdo it before Madrid. But I do feel I'm in with a chance going out there.

"There are still two weekends to go and I expect a few athletes will come out with faster times. But the important thing is that I also have a quick time, which means I'll be seeded for my heat. The last thing you want is to be drawn in lane one for your first race out there."

But training means going back to the cold nights at UCD. With Dublin still ludicrously devoid of an indoor facility, Gillick does all his track work on Tuesdays and Sundays in Belfield - without any proper lighting, and only when the rusty chains that limit access are removed. He's back in UCD on Thursdays and Saturdays doing his hill work on the road up to Fosters Avenue.

Without disrespecting the efforts of Nenagh athletic club, Gillick knows the indoor facility in Tipperary has served its time and is now embarrassingly outdated.

"You'd break your back down in Nenagh trying to run even 48 seconds. I know Irish athletes in the past have done quite well from training without an indoor track, but to be honest I don't know how we do it. I can only imagine what we'd do if we actually had something like Sheffield. It's small, compact and a superb place to race and train. There was a great atmosphere there at the weekend."

Once Eddie McDonagh helped coax him into Dundrum South Dublin at the age of 16 Gillick soon showed a natural talent for 400 metres running. He first won an Irish schools title for St Benildus in the 400 metres hurdles, but shortly after that concentrated on the 400 metres flat, and is still guided by Dundrum coaches Jim Kidd and Lucy Moore.

While Irish 400 metres running is currently blessed with a range of talents such as Rob Daly and David McCarthy, Gillick still mostly trains alone.

"Rob Daly, for example, lives the other side of the city. We tried to train together for a while, but no one wants to be crossing the city at rush hour for a training session, and then coming back late in the evening.

"It would be different if we had an indoor centre where we could meet at say weekends or something like that."