Adam Gemili: Training with James Dasaolu can only be positive

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Media caption,

Gemili excited by coaching change

Adam Gemili hopes training alongside fellow British sprinter James Dasaolu will spur him on to further success.

Gemili, 20, has left Michael Afilaka to team up with Steve Fudge, who coaches Dasaolu, in Loughborough.

Dasaolu, 26, clocked 9.91 seconds in the 100m this summer, while Gemili became the second Briton ever to run the 200m in under 20 seconds in August.

"James has run phenomenally quick this year," Gemili told BBC London. "It can only be positive."

He added: "James is a great guy, I know him off the track. We really do get on and he is my type of person."

Gemili hopes that working together will aid both him and Dasaolu in training and competition, similar to the camaraderie enjoyed by Jamaican sprint duo Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

Media caption,

Adam Gemili breaks 20-second barrier in 200m at World Championships

"That's what I'm looking forward to the most," Gemili said. "James is on another level.

"Seeing those guys [Bolt and Blake], they help each other on the track. In training and when they are competing against each other they are friends.

"Myself, James and the other guys in the group will help each other and really will progress forwards."

Gemili, from Dartford, had worked with Afilaka since January 2012, when he quit football to concentrate on athletics.

The Blackheath & Bromley Harriers runner says he decided to move to Loughborough to work under Fudge, UK Athletics's, external senior sprint coach, to further his career.

"The decision fundamentally came down to just having a bit more openness and working with other professionals in the sport and I wanted to try and explore those ideas," he said.

"Unfortunately, myself and Michael couldn't agree and work together going forwards.

"We are still on good terms, and if I see him around I'll definitely talk to him. It's not a relationship where we've split up and don't speak or anything like that.

"He taught me the differences between the disciplines and what you need to become a great sprinter.

"We had a great two years and showing me those fundamentals really did help me and will hopefully push me on to being a great senior athlete."

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