David Gillick

David Gillick: ‘You’re falling apart but you’re standing up there, telling them all how great you are’ In an extract from his book ‘The Race’, the Irish Olympian reveals a downward spiral from the peaks of his athletics career to gorging on fast food as he struggled with lingering darkness David Gillick reacts after finishing fifth in the men’s 400m final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

The first few days I was looking around thinking: ‘What the f**k have I done?’ It was time for another of those awkward conversations: to break up with my coach. I dreaded telling Nick Dakin that I was leaving Loughborough, given how much he’d done for me in the previous years. But it had to be done. He took the news in his stride, wishing me well at the end of our chat. If anything, I’d have liked him to plead with me a bit more, convincing me to stay and explaining how we could improve.