Silver feels great for Azu after up-and-down year

Wed, August 12, 2026 at 12:10 PM UTC

0

Welsh sprinter Jeremiah Azu says it was "amazing" to be part of a Great Britain one-two in the European Championships 100m in Birmingham.

Englishman Romell Glave took gold in Tuesday's final at Alexander Stadium as he clocked 10.09, with Azu hitting the line in 10.16.

Success in the men's 100m came 24 hours after Great Britian's Amy Hunt won the women's event.

"Silver feels great," Azu told BBC One Breakfast. "Going into a championship, you always want to leave with a gold, but the gold going to a team-mate makes it better.

"We were able to do it together, but it's been an up-and-down year so to finish it off with a medal has been great."

GB's Glave and Azu claim European 100m one-two

GB's Hunt comes of age with European 100m gold

The team behind Hodgkinson's golden rise and the hunt for a world record

Azu, 25, said the Birmingham crowd "made it easy for us to perform".

"We get to race all over the world, but to have these special moments, these championships, they come quite rarely in your career so to have that opportunity was amazing, and I'm glad we could grasp it," he added.

"We did what we said we would do: take the gold and the silver in the 100m."

Advertisement

After becoming world and European champion over 60m indoors in 2025, Azu finished fourth at this year's World Indoor Championships and fifth at the Commonwealth Games, with a season's best of 10.00 in Glasgow two weeks ago not proving enough for a medal.

Second in Birmingham was reason for Azu to celebrate and he sent a message to a youth group he is involved with in home city Cardiff saying Wednesday's gathering was "cancelled".

Azu says helping youngsters is "a big passion", adding: "When I was that age, I didn't feel like I had anyone I could go to, so I want to just be that that sounding board for them because as much as I've been through, I'm not too far off their age.

"So it's like the experiences that they'll be going through, I understand.

"Just to be that person for them... hopefully they can look into what I'm doing and take inspiration from it, not just to pursue sports, but to give anything they want in life a real go, and you'd never know where it can take you."

Azu says his religious faith is also a significant factor in his life - including when he is waiting for the starting gun to fire.

"We put in hours and hours of training, so you have to stand on the start line, believing you're capable of it," he said.

"And especially for some of us, our faith is another thing that grounds us. We can stand there and know that it's not bigger than us.

"We've been given this talent so we can express ourselves confidently because we've got the combination of the hard work and the gift from God, so we can stand on that start line and not have any doubt."

Criticism of empty seats and ticket prices at Europeans

European Championships: Day three schedule & BBC coverage

European Athletics Championships medal table

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”