British sprinter Adan Gemili turned to comfort eating as he battled depression in "worst year of his life"; 29-year-old has shed 10 kilograms since moving to Italy and is part of GB's 4x100m relay squad for World Championships in Budapest: "I feel incredibly happy. I'm enjoying every day"
Friday 18 August 2023 12:55, UK
British sprinter Adam Gemili has revealed his battle with depression after comfort eating during the "worst year of my life".
Gemili - who won the 200m at the 2014 European Championships and also scooped gold with the men's 4x100m team at the 2017 World Championships - lost his lottery funding in December 2021 after staying with former coach Rana Reider.
Reider denied multiple complaints of sexual misconduct and was given a one-year probation earlier this year after acknowledging "a consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete, which presented a power imbalance", according to his lawyer.
Gemili remained with Reider until after last year's World Championships in Eugene where he failed to reach the 200m semi-final, with the Briton also missing out on the 200m final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The 29-year-old has shed 10 kilograms since moving to Italy and is in Britain's 4x100m squad for the World Championships in Budapest, which start on Saturday.
Gemili told the PA news agency: "I was alone in Florida, I was eating, I wasn't doing anything and I found escape in food. It was the worst year of my life.
"I was severely depressed and food was a big escape. It's been about getting happy again, getting mentally in a better place and becoming professional again. I started the year at 87 kilos, I'm now 77.
"I'm not like the other sprinters. I look at food and I put on weight. I'm not massively ripped, I don't have a huge six pack. I've never needed that to run fast but I don't need to be carrying an extra 10 kilos.
"I wasn't professional last year and it's made a massive difference. Being happy changes everything, your hormones, you start sleeping better.
"If you don't sleep well you wake up in the middle of the night, you're hungry, you go and eat and it's just a bad cycle.
"It happens to a lot of people and a lot of athletes, especially when they're not successful and then they find escape through food. I didn't have people around me to say 'stop that'.
"It was the worst time of my life and you don't realise the negative effects it can have mentally. I was waking up to negative news, three missed calls from my mum and friends are texting saying 'have you seen this article that's come out? Your name and your picture is here'.
"Life in Italy is completely different, you're waking up every day in the sunshine. I feel incredibly happy. I'm enjoying every day and training whereas, last year, I was probably training once a week and barely getting through that.
"I was in a terrible place and to go from that to where I am now training with the athletes that I'm training with is great.
"If I reflect on the place I was last year, I did want to give up; I basically stopped and I had options.
"I wasn't enjoying it. It's been a lot of hard work from a lot of people, not just myself but friends, family, training partners, coaches and support staff have helped me get my confidence back.
"I'm grateful to see where I've come from and if I can do it, anyone can. I as someone who never thought I would ever be in that position.
"Everyone has their own battles and demons they're fighting and there's always light at the end of the tunnel. Just being here at this Championships, I couldn't have imagine that 12 months ago."
