His hamstrings — which propel him throughout the race — are next on the training hit list. Yet not before a hefty lunch of rice (he buys 5kg bags), vegetables and a whole chicken.
A couple more of his favourite fig rolls follow to prepare him for an evening session of Pilates using a Swiss ball and plyometric training (such as hurdling and box jumps) to enhance the elasticity of his hamstrings. Generating maximum leg speed means he needs to skim, not pound, the track — almost like flying.
Occasionally he’ll DJ at friends’ parties or go out in Brixton but he hasn’t had a holiday in years. Alcohol is vetoed, as are late nights, in a total commitment to his daily training schedule.
It’s certainly not the life he expected to have when he left Jamaica to live with his mother and older brother in London at the age of 14. He played on the basketball team at Blackheath Bluecoat school before working as an ice cream seller and a youth worker. It was only when he strolled into a Kent Athletic Club training session in Ladywell Park by chance and outran their best athletes in his first trial that anyone really spotted his talent.
Five years later he was under the wing of Linford Christie, who provides as much psychological support as he does physical training.
“He’s like an older brother figure to me,” says Williams. “To have someone who has been there and done it all offering their experience gives you the mental edge that can be the difference between winning and losing.”
Christie has taught him to deal with the mind games and mischief that happens on the start line out of sight of the television cameras. While other runners puff out their chests in a display of machismo or resort to moving fellow competitors’ kit bags to psyche them out, Williams shuts down, plugs into his iPod and uses his favourite Jay-Z tracks to help him keep a lid on the adrenaline he needs to get through a race.
“When I reach my maximum pace at around the 200m or 300m mark, it feels like I’ve got an elephant on my shoulders and each leg weighs a ton. I start to feel sick as the lactic acid builds up in my muscles and my whole body starts shutting down”.
Yet on the morning of this year’s 400m final, he hopes to be going through the “slightly obsessive-compulsive” motions he does before every big race.
He’ll pack his clothes in the order that he’ll wear them, from the feet upwards. His shoes, socks, running shorts, Lycra undershorts, warm-up tracksuit and vest will be neatly folded in his Team GB kit bag.
By the time he reaches the Olympic Stadium locker room, he’ll be in the “zone”, running though the race in his mind over and over again. On will go the trademark white headband and less than 50 seconds after the starter’s gun he’ll know whether the medal rostrum beckons.
“Ultimately, my desire to win overrides all the sacrifices and the pain of the race,” he says. “The body is willing to continue as long as the mind still believes in the end goal.”
Eating his way to gold
Breakfast
Porridge with bananas, apples, kiwi, melon
Two eggs or four pieces of toast with peanut butter
Yogurt
Fig rolls
Water, juice or an isotonic drink
Mid-morning snack
Cereal bars
Two scones or muffins
Flapjack
Protein shake
Lunch
Red bean soup
Rice, couscous or pasta with a whole chicken or fish
Potatoes, runner beans, sweet corn, carrots
Afternoon snack
Fig rolls
Grapes
Porridge
Supper
Meat or fish with vegetables or spaghetti bolognese
