Hard work pays off for Gillick

ATHLETICS / European Indoor Championships: Something must be working right when you run your first individual race at a major championship and win the gold medal. In the case of David Gillick it's not the facilities, not the grant money, and certainly not any innovate training methods, writes Ian O'Riordan

What has made Gillick the new European indoor 400-metre champion at age 21 is the old-fashioned combination of hard work and sound coaching. That he showed such remarkable confidence and composure well beyond his years also helped considerably.

As far as the Spanish crowd was concerned there was only one man capable of winning this title on Saturday. David Canal had the fastest time and the reputation to go with it, and yet he allowed himself get into a barging race with Russia's Dmitriy Forshev around the first 200 metres. Once Gillick saw them tire on the second lap he knew there could only be one winner.

So the former Gaelic footballer who trains without the use of an indoor track and squeezes in his gym sessions before heading off to college becomes Ireland's first winner of a major 400-metre title. You'd wonder sometimes what Irish athletics has done to deserve this.

Yet Gillick's great achievement hasn't come without some warning. When Paul McKee won the bronze medal at the World Indoor championships two years ago it was clear Ireland had found a new tradition in 400-metre running. And last year Gillick was part of the Irish team that won bronze in the World Indoor 400 metres relay.

Still, his obvious talent could so easily have fallen through the cracks. Jim Kidd and Lucy Moore spotted his potential shortly after he joined Dundrum South Dublin running club, but he still trains most evenings on the old UCD track or the gentle hill that leads up to Fosters Avenue.

Tomorrow morning he's due back at his work experience at the National Institute for Transport and Logistics, part of his degree at DIT. His grant for last year totalled €4,600 and for his final training session before coming to Madrid he travelled to Glasgow to make use of a decent indoor track. Not that he's really complaining.

"Training wise everything went to plan over the winter," he said. "I just got my mind into it over the winter. Trained harder, looked after my diet, all that kind of stuff. All that paid off. And my confidence was well up after winning the British AAA title last month. So I knew there was a medal here if I wanted it.

"After Friday's heat though I was getting sick because I'd been too nervous to eat. For a moment there I wasn't sure if I could run at all. On the start line though I knew the whole crowd were behind Canal. So I just stayed in my own little world.

"When the Russian dropped back level with me a yard opened up. He put his arm out to fend me off, but he was going to need more than that to stop me. Then coming into the straight I knew I had Canal. I suppose that's the confidence I have at the moment. And I own that to Mr Kidd and Lucy."

Kidd has developed at special weight-training programme designed to improve his form. But that means on Mondays and Thursdays he's at the gym in UCD at seven in the morning. Or else he won't get near the weights he needs.

He still lives at home with his parents in Ballinteer, close to the St John's GAA club when he first developed his sporting interests. At 15 he'd won an Irish Schools' 400 metre hurdles title for St Benildus, and shortly after that started to prioritise.

"I think when I made the relay team for the World junior championships in Jamaica in 2002 I realised this was my sport. I wanted more, and packed in the football. I suppose I felt I was progressing faster in the athletics, and wanted to see what I could do if I really put my mind to it."

But he knows too that a good chef doesn't need a fancy kitchen or expensive ingredients to cook up something special. Every now and again though it's nice to indulge.

"Funding is a hard one, and I do think the Sports Council should be looking at the grassroots, in terms of facilities too. You do reap what you sow. And there are gaps there right now."

Gillick Factfile

Age: 21

Lives: Ballinteer, Dublin

Coach: Jim Kidd, Lucy Moore

Club: Dundrum South Dublin

Personal bests: 200m 21.74 (indoors); 400m 46.17 (indoors), 46.29 (outdoors)

Major championship record: World Indoor 4x400 metre relay gold 2004.