Adam Gemili returns to individual Olympic podium funding
Last Updated: 02/12/19 1:46pm
Sprinter Adam Gemili is back on British Athletics' individual Olympic podium funding programme.
The 26-year-old, who had been downgraded to relay funding only last winter, finished fourth in the 200 metres at the World Championships earlier this year to return to the Olympic podium funding category.
Gemili had hoped that his performances in Doha, that also included a silver in the 4x100m relay, would help keep him in the funding frame.
"I'm not trying to prove people wrong, I'm just showing people that I'm still around and kicking, that I have still got potential and I'm not just the forgotten man," he said.
"And hopefully this has re-lit that belief in a lot of people."
Gemili has been the most vocal member of a group of athletes seeking to ensure they maximise on the commercial benefits of competing in next summer's Olympic Games.
He was listed as one of 20 claimants on a letter sent to the British Olympic Association on November 15 challenging the BOA's interpretation of the International Olympic Council's Rule 40.
The rule, which seeks to protect the interests of the International Olympic Committee, restricts the level of sponsorship activity an athlete can be involved in during a defined Games period.
Gemili, who serves as a member of the BOA's athletes commission, has described Rule 40 as "ridiculous, unjust and unfair" but the BOA insists certain restrictions are necessary as it relies on sponsorship for funding.
Other athletes whose funding has changed include 1500m runner Jake Wightman, who has moved from podium potential level to podium on British Athletics' World Class Programme after a fifth-placed finish in Doha. So too has race walker Tom Bosworth after he finished seventh in the 20km.
