Former European champion looks back to when he dipped under 45 seconds for the first time for 400m with 44.83 at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace in July 2008

I’d torn a tendon in my foot after I came back from the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and it ruined the following summer. The following year, David Gillick – who was the European indoor champion – joined my training group and he kicked my ass. He absolutely destroyed me in every session. 

Going into the winter of 2007-8, I’d adapted and learned what I needed to do – how to handle training with someone who was as good or better than me.

I used David as much as I could and we pushed each other really hard. We got a lot out of ourselves in our sessions and I was very fortunate I stayed injury-free. I had maybe eight months where I had nothing to worry about.

The only problems were small things off the track. I was living in a very damp room with slugs in it. I was meant to move into another house with a group of lads but, at the last moment, I pulled out and moved into a one-bed place with my then girlfriend Kate, who is now my wife. It cost an absolute fortune to pay for two places, but it was the right decision for my career.

Going into that summer felt weird. I just kept winning races. I could run anywhere and I could run between 45.1 and 45.4. It was a rhythm that I was in. In the 400m, when you do that consistently, you’re knocking on the door. You know there’s going to be a big time coming at some stage. 

I was quite confident where I was. I’d actually already done my kitting out for the Olympics before the British Championships [also the trials] because I’d run the standard eight times and it was pretty set that I was going to Beijing.

If Ian Stewart, who used to run the British meetings, saw that a British athlete was doing well, he would try to give them an opportunity to run well – so he gave me lane four in the A race 400m at the Grand Prix and set it up for me to have a go. 

Crystal Palace was a home track for me, as well. It’s where I grew up. My parents were there that night along with other family and friends – and my athletics club Croydon Harriers had a big group in one area down the back straight with a little banner. 

Some of the best American athletes were in the race and, just to be in that occasion, on a night like that, was what every kid dreams of.

I’d never been to the Grand Prix before I raced there but I’d done national camps and competitions and training sessions on that track. It was all lined up perfectly for me to run a decent race.

I could run in that 45-low area but I thought: “When am I going to make that breakthrough? When am I going to be a 44-second runner?” I know, by today’s times, 44 seconds isn’t as big a deal anymore but as a 21-year-old who’s still finding his way through the event, it was a huge deal to run sub-45 for the first time.

Once I knew I could do it once, I could keep doing it. I raced in Monaco three days later and ran a bit quicker again. I was like: “Okay, cool. I’ve found it. I’ve got the rhythm. I’m going to an Olympic Games, and I’m actually unbeaten and in 44 seconds shape.” 

I knew it might not be enough to win a medal, but my aim going into that winter was always to run 44.60 and make the Olympic final. It was written down on a piece of paper in October and somehow it came up. 

It was one of those divine things that happens where you write it down and, all of a sudden, it happens. It’s crazy. That Crystal Palace race definitely joined all the dots – I had just needed something to get me through and get me to that next level.

However, I came sixth in Beijing and I was gutted and furious. I went 45 flat in the heat and then 44.60 in the semi-final. My body was probably at its limit and I asked for a lot of treatment after the semi from the therapist there. 

I told him: “My quad’s gone, I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It’s tight.” It was probably all in my head and he said that to me. He didn’t want to treat me at all. If someone just slapped me on the legs, I’d have been fine. That was just inexperience of being on that level. 

I think that’s why I went from 44.6 in the semi-finals to 45.12 in the final and missing out on the medal by the length of my arm. David Neville, who I had beaten in Crystal Palace, made a big lunge for the line ahead of Chris Brown. I was within touching distance. It was like I could have reached out and pulled him back.

You don’t get those opportunities very often – to go to an Olympic Games in good shape and to be within touching distance of a medal if you just put the right race together. It didn’t come around again so how I ran in that final was definitely a regret.

But Crystal Palace was great. The best stadiums in the world for athletics aren’t that big. Zurich is 30,000, Brussels is 50,000 and it’s quite big, but they manage to fill it. Lausanne’s the same. The new stadium in Paris is incredible. 

For Crystal Palace – with a bit of investment, a bit of support, you could create the same. You didn’t have to try and force the atmosphere – that happened on its own. It was organic. You had the steel drums at the 100m start and it was just magical. 

London Stadium is just a bit too big. We don’t sell it out, even with all the media that goes around it. I think that’s where athletics has lost its way. 

Factfile
Born: April 3, 1987
Event: 400m
PB: 44.45
Achievements:
2018: European Champs 4x400m silver
2017: World Champs 4x400m bronze
2016: European Champs 400m gold
2015: World Champs 4x400m bronze
2014: European Champs 400m and 4x400m gold
2010: European Champs 400m bronze and 4x400m silver
2009: World Champs 4x400m silver
2008: Olympic 4x400m bronze