Asked to name the best moment of his career and Adam Gemili does not pick his European gold medal over 200 metres but his part in a relay triumph at the 2017 World Championships in London. No surprise. Team sport brings the best out in him.
"If there is one night that I could live again it would be that one," he tells Your Site. "I am so grateful that I had the chance to be part of that history. I have the videos of it from my parents' phone. It was incredible. It was the last race. It was Usain Bolt's last race."
Gemili explains: "The odds were stacked against us. We weren't necessarily the four fastest athletes but, together, we were the four fastest athletes in that stadium. There were the Jamaicans. The Americans had won the gold and silver in the 100 metres.
"Athletics is a very individual sport. But in a relay, that team element, it can really come together. That is what we did. We came together to do something special. We defended our house. That team environment, it is what I am good at, what I have grown up doing."
Before Gemili became one of the country's best sprinters, his first love was football. He was in Chelsea's academy from 2001 to 2008 and was still dreaming of a career in the game when he was selected for the 2012 Olympics. He was 18 years old.
"I was always planning to go back to football but when that happened, it was sort like, nope, this is where I am at now." For all that he achieved in athletics, he still talks about football with that same wistfulness of any academy prospect who did not quite make it.
"I grew up playing football and that was all that I really knew," he says. "It just never came to fruition. My dream was to play for England or at least to hear that Champions League music. When we were ball boys at Chelsea, it used to give me goosebumps."
He still credits his time at Chelsea with giving him the discipline that he needed. "They taught me how to be professional, how to do the right things, how to handle pressure. I probably would not be where I am today without having grown up at a club like that."
Where he is today is back at Chelsea, a career come full circle. Having announced his retirement from athletics at the age of 32, Gemili is excited about launching his own 'speed academy' and is already working with the 13- and 14-year-olds at his former club.
"I have been working with the academy boys September or October, just teaching them speed and how to accelerate properly. You are teaching them how it should feel. It is a bit different with footballers because it has got to be more game specific," says Gemili.
"You do not want them to be sprinters. But you are teaching them the fundamentals of how to apply force into the ground, how to move, how to react, that coordination when you land on the floor instantly and then need to push off to accelerate properly."
Gemili is uniquely placed to help these players. "I am one of the few lucky enough to have done two sports at a very high level and can understand the crossover. I can share some of that knowledge to give them the best chance to succeed," he explains.
And if you think that someone is either quick or they are not, then think again. "Speed and power, acceleration, it is something you absolutely can train. The improvements that these guys have seen in their numbers, their force production, it is incredible."
He adds: "I have loads of numbers to back it up. We tested them two or three months later and the results were beyond incredible. Massive improvements. It is not just the quick ones. The ones who were not quick have seen even more improvement really."
With football getting quicker, it is arguably even more important right now than ever before. "They might not be Olympic fast but the aim to be as quick as they can be. They all want to learn. I think they realise that extra few per cent can be an advantage."
In this world of marginal gains, speed would seem one of the more obvious ones. And Gemili is helping senior players as well as younger ones. Last summer, he ran a pre-season camp to help get a group of players fit. "We had quite a big intake," he reveals.
As well as Manchester City prospect Ryan McAidoo, there was Aaron Connolly, the 26-year-old Republic of Ireland international. "It is very easy to help senior players too. It is down to the open-mindedness of the player," says Gemili. Speed is only one aspect too.
"Injuries can be down to bad mechanics or bad recovery," he explains. "I am biased, of course, but in my opinion nothing really conditions like sprinting. Footballers realise that their careers are short and they want to improve to get everything they can out of it."
As for Gemili, his career as an elite athlete is now over. But he is still a young man. "I just feel like I am ready for new challenges, new adventures. I am closing that chapter. The next journey awaits." His aim through his 'speed academy' is for that to include football.
"Chelsea are one of the best academies around, always at the forefront of innovation, and it is a real privilege and honour to help shape these guys' futures. I hope I can continue to do that." After the glory of gold, Gemili is still happiest when part of a team.
