British sprinter Gemili retires and joins Chelsea as speed coach

Former European 200m champion Adam Gemili has retired from athletics and joins Premier League club Chelsea as a part-time speed coach.

Gemili reached the semi-finals of the 100m in London and went on to win relay medals at three World Championships.

He was the 2014 European champion over 200m and took silver in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow that summer.

Posting on his Instagram page, Gemili said:, external "It's hard to put into words what an incredible journey it's been.

"Thank you for all the support, love, and belief you've shown me throughout my career.

"From a baby-faced Adam at London 2012 to a slightly more grey-haired version in 2025. I hope I've made you proud."

The 32-year-old was a youth footballer at Chelsea and on the books at then League Two Dagenham & Redbridge before committing to sprinting, and made the Team GB squad for the Olympics in his home city at London 2012.

Confirming his new role, Gemili told Sky Sports: "Knowledge is power and if I'm able to teach these kids everything that I know, I can die happy.

"I hope even just one or two of them can feel some sort of inspiration from my story, because football is very tough sport - like, I never planned to become an athlete.

"For a lot of these guys they won't make it to the top level, they won't make it to the top of the Premier League.

"But if I can teach them the skills that I've got, one or two of them might even come into athletics, you never really know."

Gemili narrowly missed out on more medals, finishing fourth in the 200m at the Rio 2016 Olympics, just 0.003 seconds shy of bronze, before another fourth place at the Doha 2019 World Athletics Championships.

Alongside Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, he is one of just three British male sprinters to have run under 10 seconds in the 100m and 20 seconds in the 200m, with personal bests of 9.97 seconds and 19.97 seconds respectively.