A-list celebrity back with a bang

ATHLETICS/European Indoor Championships, David Gillick interview:What a race! What a finish! And to think he could be playing midfield for Dublin. What a loss that would have been! Even if he never wins another major title it is now certain Ireland has produced a new athletics star in the person of David Gillick.

Funny thing is that's exactly what was written here two years ago. When Gillick came from nowhere to win the European Indoor 400 metres in Madrid it suddenly seemed this exciting new career had opened up before him - then just as suddenly it seemed to close back down, just as Birmingham came into view.

That he turned things around with such timing and such resolve explains his wild show of emotion on Saturday night. It didn't happen by accident. Gillick moved out of the comfort zone and made some dramatic adjustments, including the psychological ones. That's all part of what he took to the line in Birmingham at the weekend: the desire to prove he was no flash in the pan, to satisfy his own cravings to repeat that success.

Now his running talent has been put beyond dispute it's like his career is kick-started again - his winning time of 45.52 seconds the most emphatic evidence of that. It took him under the Olympic A standard of 45.55 seconds and therefore sets him up nicely for Beijing next year; it improved on his own indoor national record of 45.91 and was also faster than his outdoor best of 45.67 and Paul McKee's outdoor national record of 45.58. It also boosted him to fifth on the all-time European indoor list.

Some of those who have a hard time believing in athletics may now realise that adrenaline can still be the strongest drug around.

"I think I hit at least three birds with the one stone in that race," says Gillick. "But I didn't see the time until five minutes after the race. That's a good thing. I'd gone out there to win, never thinking about the times.

"And I was always confident of beating (the runner-up, Bastian) Swillims. I don't mean that in a cocky way, but I had gone through that scenario. I'd watched him in his semi-final run that 45.92. He looked comfy. I knew I had to raise my game again going into the final.

"So I wanted to get as close as possible to him down the back stretch and then kick like mad coming out of the bend. And that's what I need. I gained on him into the straight and just got that feeling I was catching him. In the last 20 metres I knew I would get him. But it was still a fight to the line. I had to keep my form though because he was still very strong."

Gillick's move to Loughborough last October had given him the requisite strength; he has clearly bulked his upper body over the past five months. That was only part of the process of reinvention.

"It's the whole environment over there really, so much more competitive than where I was at in Dublin. I'm still doing the same core sessions, two weight sessions a week. In fact I'm doing one running session less. It's more the little things around that. Like my recovery time. I just train, eat and rest now. So recovery has gone up 100 per cent. I'm also just 500 metres from the running track.

"So overall it's more about quality than quantity. And I am training with some quality athletes, the likes of Martin Rooney (Britain's leading junior). I'll be back training this week, and no one in that group is going to let me get complacent.

"Myself and Martin are neck and neck in training, and if I get smoked in a session I'll know about it. So there won't be any complacency this time."

The particular methods of Nick Dakin, Britain's national coach at 400-metre hurdles, also played a key role, though Gillick pays special tribute to the Armagh footballer and sports psychologist Enda McNulty for helping him get his head straight.

"I'd met him a few times before, and found him a very motivating person. After Gothenburg I just met him one night, got talking to him again, and it just went from there. In fact I brought him over to Loughborough this week, and he stayed Monday and Tuesday night. We chatted through things, and did some visualisation, and I am blown away at just how much sports psychology has got to do with winning; it's unbelievable.

"Even back in Madrid two years ago I didn't show many nerves. But actually I couldn't eat in the week up to that. I'm a different athlete now. A lot more chilled, and enjoying what I'm doing.

"On Saturday morning I was down having breakfast with the Irish team, cracking jokes. A year ago there was no way I could have done that. I would have been so caught up and emotional."

The question now is how fast he can go outdoors.

"I'm not going to start listing times now," he says. "I'm ecstatic to win here, but it is just a bonus.

"I remember after Madrid some people were talking about me winning the World Championships, and I just didn't know how to grasp the situation. For me it was just too weird, too surreal, and the pressure eventually got to me.

"So I'm staying very much focused on my goals this time, and that's outdoors. My training has been geared all along for outdoors. I didn't taper down at all for this."

So he runs 45.52 seconds without tapering down. That's how much times have changed.