Cathal Dennehy: Raw and insightful, David Gillick's story of a race well run

Those who David Gillick's autobiography will come away with a deeper understanding of elite athletics and what it took to become one of Ireland’s greatest sprinters.

The 400m final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships is the race replayed most often in David Gillick's mind. Pic: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE

There’s a moment that sticks in the memory when it comes to David Gillick’s career – and it didn’t happen on a track. It was just after he made his last appearance in an Irish vest, running the 4x400m relay at the 2016 Europeans in Amsterdam, where the team fell just short of Olympic qualification.

A few of us hacks were gathered in the mixed zone and we began with one of those lazy starter questions: “What are your thoughts on that?” Nine years on, I can’t remember exactly what Gillick said but I know he talked for about three minutes, pre-empting every follow-up question we might have had and comprehensively capturing the race and his feelings. When he paused for further questions, none of us had any left to offer. He’d said it all.