Adam Gemili’s hopes of being a vibrant medal contender at the world championships in Beijing may be in doubt after he injured himself at the end of the 100m at the Birmingham Grand Prix. The sprinter claimed he tumbled to the track after being distracted by the fire cannons that flared up as the runners crossed the finishing line. British Athletics later confirmed that Gemili would need a scan on his right hamstring, with the results expected on Monday.
But there was better news for Dina Asher-Smith, who matched the Olympic champion Allyson Felix stride for stride as she smashed her 200m personal best by over three-tenths of a second. The 19-year-old Asher-Smith, who broke the British 100m record last month, ran 22.30sec to put her in second place on the all-time British list.
However, the enduring image of the day was Gemili’s pained face when he was taken off the track on a stretcher. Sprinters deal in fractions of a second – and, sadly, that was all the 21-year-old had to enjoy becoming only the sixth British athlete to smash the 10-second barrier for 100m. As Gemili crossed the line after finishing second to the American Marvin Bracy in 9.97sec, three things happened almost simultaneously: he somersaulted forward, reached for his right hamstring and howled in anguish.
After treatment he was taken away in a wheelchair, but as he left the stadium he told Darren Campbell, the 2003 world championship bronze medallist and Radio 5 Live commentator, that the cannons had startled him. “Adam told me he got a shock by the pyrotechnics going off at the end when he was stretched off,” said Campbell. “It’s madness. You can’t manufacture atmosphere.”
However, an event spokesperson defended their use. “The pyrotechnics are a standard part of Diamond League Event presentation,” he said. “We have had no complaints about their use at this or any other events.”
Now Gemili has to pick himself up again. Hamstring injuries usually take four to six weeks to heal, which means he is likely to miss the British trials in July. While there are 75 days to go before the world championships in Beijing, it would be asking a lot for Gemili to return to his peak by then.
Still, he is looking on the bright side. As he tweeted afterwards: “Not the ending I wanted but very happy to be the first Brit to run sub-10 and sub-20. Big thanks to all for the messages of support!”
Richard Kilty, who finished fifth in a personal best of 10.05, promised he would soon be following Gemili in the sub-10 second club. “I’ll break 10 seconds, for sure,” he said. “Once I get my starts like indoors and get my race together, it’s just a matter of time.
“I’m finally finding my feet in the outdoors. I’m not going to rush it. Once I come into a race fresh I can definitely break the sub-10-second barrier.”
Asher-Smith was keeping her feet on the ground despite another promising performance. From lane six she was unable to see the Americans Jeneba Tarmoh and Felix inside her. But she attacked the bend hard to establish a lead at halfway. And it was still mighty close as the three crossed the line, with Asher-Smith missing out in a photo to Tarmoh, who emerged victorious, and Felix who came second.
“I was looking to get somewhere around my personal best of 22.61 so to run 22.3 was out of this world,” said Asher-Smith. “I knew I had to get out hard with an Olympic and world champion inside you. When I was coming down the home straight I was like, ‘oh my word, I’m actually doing quite well!’. I am really happy with that race.”
The Olympic champion Greg Rutherford has not competed for three weeks after suffering an abductor injury, but he looked highly impressive as he won the men’s long jump with a leap of 8.35m. Another Briton, the 24-year-old Dan Bramble, jumped 8.17m to make the qualifying standard for the world championships.
“I jumped very well and I am chuffed to bits,” said Rutherford. “This is the furthest I have ever jumped in the UK and to do that so soon after my injury I am really happy.”
However, Tiffany Porter admitted she was disappointed at coming only third to Dawn Harper-Nelson after running a time of 12.65sec.
“I messed up really badly at the end of the race – it’s really frustrating,” she said.
