Speaking in the exclusive film to help showcase the remarkable talent, support, scholarships, facilities and sports research at his university, University of East London (UEL), Adam says: “Sport gives you discipline. UEL has helped me to be driven, and I’ve seen the benefits of this running at the World Championships. I couldn’t have done any of it without them…I love it here.”
Adam, who is currently studying Sport and Exercise Science, burst onto the scene following his championship record time of 10.05 seconds in the 100m final at the 2012 World Junior Championships, which secured him a gold medal. Adam recorded a remarkable time of 10.06 seconds in the London 2012 Games 100m semi-final, and was also a finalist at the 2013 Moscow World Championships.
Adam is only the second British athlete to run under 20 seconds over 200m. Talking about the experience of waiting on the starting blocks, Gemili explains: “When I’m in the blocks waiting to go, it’s a very lonely place.
He added: “As an athlete you need to understand how your body works, the biomechanics – and that helps me when I’m in the blocks to really get the biggest first step that I can.”
The High-Performance Sport Scholarship Programme at UEL is one of the most attractive in the UK and enables elite athletes to balance study with their sporting ambitions by offering athletes world-class facilities, comprehensive support and financial scholarships and bursaries. Those that want to find out more about the scholarship and how to apply can visit https://www.uel.ac.uk/sport/highperformance
UEL’s current sports scholars include Olympians, Paralympians and senior internationals that represent UEL at national and international university competitions. In 2012, three of UEL’s scholars, Adam Gemili (Sprinting), Gemma Gibbons (Judo) and Sophie Cox (Judo), were chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
UEL is continuing to make rapid progress towards its aim of becoming the number-one university for sport in London by 2015. It has climbed a massive 51 places in the British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league table in the last two years.
