David Gillick has received a boost ahead of the World Track and Field Championships as he was today named the Crowne Plaza Athlete of the Month for July. The Dundrum South Dublin athlete has been in stunning form this season as he prepares for the 400m in Berlin next week.

Gillick was given the award in recognition of his run at the Meeting de Madrid in early July where he became the first Irish athlete to break the 45 second mark in the 400m, posting a time of 44.77 and destroying a world class field in the process. The award will be a timely boost for Gillick as he gets ready to take to the track in Berlin on the 18th of August in the heats of the 400m.

It has been an up and down season for Gillick. In March he went to the European Indoor Championships aiming to retain his gold medal over 400m but a controversial fall in the semi final dashed his hopes of completing a dream treble after winning in 2005 and 2007.

Many would have thought this would have a huge impact on his season and it did but not in the way many people expected. Gillick bounced back has been in blistering form outdoors this year and this is something he is pleased with. “I am very happy with how things have gone so far this season. It was always an aim of mine to break 45 and this is something that hangs over you until you do it and now that I have I can push on. The season has been very consistent for me so far so I just want to try and maintain this,” Gillick said.

While many critics place emphasis on the times that athletes are running as an indicator of how well someone can do Gillick sees it differently when it comes to Championships. “The one thing I have been really happy with aside from my times is that I have been placing well. When it comes to championships it doesn’t matter what time you run as long as you the placing to progress through the rounds. If it comes to a semi final or final I don’t care what time I run as long as it gets me into the top 3,” the Dubliner went on to say.

David Gillick will open his World championships in the heats of the 400m at 10:05am on Tuesday the 18th August in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.