'My son George's bid to win Olympic gold is BIGGER than playing in the World Cup', insists ex-England star Danny Mills, as he marvels at the GB runner's dedication - who aims to eat 30 different plants a week!

Danny Mills was 25 years old when he played for England at a World Cup. Next week, he will watch his 25-year-old son George run for Great Britain at an Olympic Games.

‘Both achievements are pretty good, to represent our country on the biggest stage of all,’ says Danny. ‘But I still say to people the Olympics are bigger than the World Cup. On a global scale, the Olympics are absolutely huge.

‘I did OK, playing five games at the 2002 World Cup. But what George is hopefully going to achieve is going to eclipse that.’

Does George — who will run in both the 1500 metres and 5,000m for Team GB in Paris — agree? ‘I don’t know what eclipsing would be because it’s different sports,’ he says in typical matter-of-fact fashion. ‘When you say the Olympics are bigger, I still think the World Cup seems like a bigger deal. But I grew up with football, so that is probably why.’

Indeed, George could not escape football in his formative years. He was born in May 1999, just days before his dad suffered relegation from the Premier League with Charlton and then signed for Leeds.

George only remembers the back end of his father’s career, when he played for Manchester City before retiring in 2009. But he has seen footage from his peak years.

‘I remember watching a tape of the World Cup quite a few times as a kid, which was pretty cool,’ he recalls to Mail Sport. ‘He also shows us the three goals he scored.’

‘Nine!’ interjects Danny. ‘Oh, nine, sorry,’ adds George. ‘But there are only three good ones.’

George, as you can tell, is not afraid to rib his old man. But he also knows he would not be where he is today without the work ethic Danny instilled in him from a young age.

‘That has been part of my life every day since I was a kid,’ admits George. ‘Even when not doing sport, just in life, the fundamentals were hard work and discipline in everything that you do.’

And you will be hard pushed to find any Team GB participant in Paris who is more disciplined than the middle-distance runner.

‘I was disciplined and dedicated as a footballer, but this is next level stuff,’ says Danny. ‘It is relentless. There is no stone unturned. He doesn’t do anything that is not beneficial to his running or his body, no matter what.’

George has previously told of his aim to eat 30 different plants a week, ‘to excite your microbes’, while the only sweet drink he will ever allow himself is kombucha, a fermented tea.

Danny tells a story of when George went to stay with his other son Stanley, a footballer with Everton, before the British Olympic trials in Manchester last month.

‘Stan rang me up at one point,’ recounts Danny. ‘And he said, “Oh my God, Dad, George is so boring, all he does is eat rice and stretch. He doesn’t even watch telly”.’

George laughs and then tells a tale of his own from his stay with his brother, which involves a chicken dinner. ‘I took mine out of the pan and he then put some seasoning on his,’ he recalls. ‘I said to him, “Flavour doesn’t make you fast”.’

Another story that has done the rounds is that George once sent away a cake a friend brought to his house for his birthday. ‘That would have absolutely happened,’ says George, who positively embraces being branded boring.

His day-to-day life has been eat, sleep, run, repeat ever since he joined On Athletics Club Europe at the start of 2022, spending his winters training at altitude in Dullstroom, South Africa, and his summers in St Moritz, Switzerland.

‘I don’t do much or anything else other than train and recover from training,’ admits George. ‘I can’t even remember the last time I went for coffee with a friend.

‘I know that sounds extreme, but I enjoy doing it, and there’s quite a nice fulfilment knowing you are literally doing nothing other than what can help you perform and achieve your goals.’

Such dedication reaped rewards at the European Championships last month, when he won a silver in the 5,000m. But just as memorable was George’s refusal to celebrate his first major medal, insisting that he was actually disappointed not to have beaten Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

‘I went for a 5k cool down at 1.30am after drug testing,’ recalls George when asked how he spent his night. ‘The next day, I got up and did a 10k run and then a session at the warm-up track after the medal ceremony.’

George’s silver, though, was significant in that he showed British selectors he was worth an Olympic place in the 5,000m. He then ensured he would get to double up in Paris by finishing in the top two of the 1500m trials — making amends for his failure to make Britain’s team at last summer’s World Championships.

‘I was absolutely gutted,’ he says of his non-selection last year. ‘But after I didn’t make Budapest, I said, “I have to make the Olympics, it’s not even a question”.’

On his son’s Budapest disappointment, Danny adds: ‘It wasn’t easy to lift him up. But he went and did his thing, trained harder, raced harder and made himself even more determined. At the end of the year, he set the plan in place.’

Danny was so confident that George would complete his plan that he snapped up tickets for both the Olympics 1500m and 5,000m in January. ‘He put his faith in me,’ grins George. ‘I had no choice but to do it!’

Danny also got tickets for him and George to go to the Rio Olympics together in 2016. ‘He was just getting into running then, so it was a case of let’s go and give him a little tour and a bit of inspiration about what the future could hold,’ says the former footballer.

This time, though, Danny will be more nervous sitting in the stands. ‘I hate it,’ he admits. ‘I go and watch his brother play football and there are nervous moments. We have had some tough days, like when he got a serious injury in the FA Cup in January.

‘But watching football, someone can always bail you out, you have 10 other team-mates. When it’s running, whatever race it is, it’s like watching a sudden-death penalty shootout.’

You sense with George that there will be no such nerves on the start line in the Stade de France. So can he eclipse his dad, who lost in the World Cup quarter-finals against Brazil, and go on to reach an Olympic final and win a medal?

‘I believe I am capable of competing in that company,’ George replies. ‘If you make a final, anything is possible.’

Danny adds: ‘I only played in one World Cup, so you’ve got to enjoy these moments and feel proud to represent your country. But you don’t want to just get there, you want to compete and make a real mark.’