by Alex Hoad at the Olympic Stadium

Adam Gemili said making the Olympic 100m final tomorrow night would be ‘a feeling that would never be matched’ in his lifetime – and he reckons it’s possible.

The 18-year-old Dartford phenom made an electric Olympic debut at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday afternoon, pushing sprint legend Asafa Powell of Jamaica all the way in the fifth heat of the 100m.

Powell – twice holder of the World Record and a vastly-decorated athlete – eventually crossed the line in 10.04secs with Gemili just behind in 10.11secs to raise the roof.

Churandy Martina of the Netherlands was the third automatic qualifier in the heat, with the usual suspects of Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake and Justin Gatlin also progressing, while American Ryan Bailey set a blistering time of 9.88secs to lead the way.

To put it into some context, Gemili’s qualifying time was around a quarter of a second faster than he had ever run as late as two months ago.

After receiving a truly spine-tingling reception from the 80,000 fans present, Gemili said: "I’ve never experinced anything like that it my life. It was absolutely amazing. I’m so happy.

"Obviously I was nervous but I just wanted to try and focus, do the race and execute properly and when you run infront of a crowd like that it was just absolutely amazing."

He added: "It’s good I can get up there and compete against (the likes of Powell). Obviously he’s one of the best athletes of all time so to go out there and race against him, not get beaten too badly and do quite well – it’s great for my confidence.

"I just came to try and run quick – I wasn’t looking to try and get through or win a round, but I do think maybe the final is a possibility, if I race properly and do well, but I don’t know."

He added: "Obviously ther track is very very quick and everyone’s in good shape.

"For myself I feel I can hopefully run a bit quicker and if i can execute my race a bit better hopefully I can get quicker.

"I’m not going to say a time because I don’t like to talk them, but I think I can run quicker."

He revealed: "It would be amazing to reach the final. It would feel unbelievable. No feeling would ever match it and I would never forget it."

The former Chelsea FC youngster, currently on the books of Dagenham & Redbridge, revealed his taste of Olympic stardom has probably put an end to his footballing aspirations... just months after he was turning out in Blue Square Bet South on loan at Thurrock FC.

Gemili admitted: "Now I’m doing well in athletics, I’m enjoying it, I’m working hard, I want to keep progressing. I think there’s a lot more to come. I’m going to stay with it and see how it goes."