European champ Gillick eyes title defence with new coach
Life has changed for Gillick since he stormed to victory in the final of the 400m at the European indoor championships in Madrid two years ago on an evening when Alistair Cragg completed an unprecedented track double at a major championships by winning the 3,000m.
Gillick had been hoping to transfer his indoor form on to the outdoor track at the European championships in Gothenburg last summer but those hopes never materialised.
He struggled with a slight, hamstring injury all season and he had to learn to live with a niggling back problem that must still be addressed.
But he emerged from the doldrums on the eve of the Europeans to win his first national senior 400m title in sensational fashion.
“That was the only decent race I ran all season,” he insisted. “To put the season in a nutshell, I improved by pb and won first national 400m title but, personally, I don’t view it as a great season. I was constantly chasing times, looking for the Irish record, looking for the A standard. I just did not let the season flow.
“The national championships was my only good race all year. It was the only time I went out and ran the race without thinking of anything else.
“I learned a lot from the season and now, when I look back, maybe it was all a blessing in disguise because it told me what I needed to do. Now I have made changes and made a positive move.”
He split with his coaches, Jim Kidd and Will Heffernan and moved camp to Loughborough where he now trains under Nick Dakin. It was a painful decision for him at the time.
“It was a hard decision — leaving my coaches and home but I feel it was the right decision,” he said. “I am working in a different environment but this is all about little inches and adding them up — extra conditioning work training with really good athletes.”
The training group includes the sensational teenager, Martin Rooney. The 19-year-old was en route to the world youths championships in Marrakech a couple of years ago but had to turn back when it was discovered that he only had an Irish passport and did not have a UK passport.
That was quickly rectified before his next assignment and last year he broke Roger Black’s junior record when he finished fifth in the 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 45.35secs. He went on to win a bronze medal at the world junior championships in Beijing after that.
Another training partner is Graham Hedderman who has run 45.8secs for 400m so he has quality opposition to run against even on the training track.
“I am in the mix.,” he said. “Since I made the move in October everything has gone well. The environment is good, the atmosphere is good, the athletes I train with are all world class and we all have similar goals.”
With the European indoor championships taking place in Birmingham the first weekend in March he would like to successfully defend the title he won in Madrid.
“But we are just going to play it by ear,” he said. “I only made the move in October and it will take Nick a couple of months to get to know what sort of athlete I am.
“With the Olympics coming around I have a big summer ahead of me as regards getting the A standard so that will be a priority.”
The Olympic Council of Ireland decided that only A standard athletes will go to Beijing next year. The A standard for 400m is 45.55secs and Gillick has a pb of 45.67secs. He has until July 21, 2008, to get it.
Meanwhile Seamus Power has decided not to compete in the IAAF Grand Prix at Stormont on Saturday. The Clareman had to withdraw from the Irish senior team for the European cross-country championships with a hamstring injury.
“I had a really good training session yesterday but I have decided it would be too soon for me to race competitively against world class opposition,” he said.
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