GB's Azu claims 60m gold as Robertson wins bronze

Yahoo

08-03-2025

Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu claimed men's 60m gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championships to land his first individual international title, as team-mate Andrew Robertson won bronze.
Azu, 23, ran a personal best of 6.49 seconds to cross the line ahead of Sweden's Henrik Larsson in 6.52, with Robertson third in 6.55 in Saturday night's final.
Having qualified fastest from the morning heats, Azu made a further statement by setting a European-leading time and then personal best 6.52 secs in the semi-finals.
But he saved his best for the medal race, which took place just two and a half hours later, to clinch GB's first gold in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
"Honestly, I didn't think I won it. I thought Henrik was five metres in front of me. When you're in a line you can't really tell what is going on. I was pushing every bit of me to the line," Azu, who recently returned his training to the UK, told BBC Sport.
"I know I'm in the right place and this confirmed to me that I've made the right decisions. This is just the start of the journey for us as a team. We are coming to take it all and I'm excited to be on this journey now."
Azu becomes the ninth British man to win the title - and first since Richard Kilty won back-to-back titles in 2017.
Podium finishes for Azu and Robertson follow the bronze medals won by 1500m runner Revee Walcott-Nolan and the mixed 4x400m relay quartet.
It is a first individual international medal for 34-year-old Robertson, who received a late call-up to the squad and finished fourth in 2021.
"This time last week I was having a cheesecake, I was having a great time with my family in Scarborough," Robertson joked.
"I got the call on Wednesday to be a reserve but I was always prepared [to compete] because it has been my goal for a long time. Aged 34, to come away with my second-fastest time ever, I can't ask for any more."
Azu had a taste of gold on the international stage as part of Britain's team at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, where 100m bronze represented his first senior individual medal at that level.
But despite playing his part in Team GB's 4x100m relay bronze at Paris 2024 last summer, Azu has since described the experience of his first Olympic Games as "bittersweet" after he was disqualified from the individual event for a false start.
He has since taken the significant decision to switch his training set-up after starting his family, leaving Marco Airale's group in Italy to return home to Cardiff and reunite with former coach Helen James.
The young Welshman, who retained his British indoor 60m title in February, already appears to be benefitting from that move, now back under the guidance of the coach who encouraged him to take up the sport as a teenager.
A two-time European under-23 100m champion, Azu will now target a first individual podium on the global stage at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China this month.
"Speechless. It has been a crazy couple of months. To top it off by becoming European champion, I'm so grateful to god," Azu said.
"Life is such a flash and it is so great to have these moments. I am so grateful to be standing here and calling myself a European champion."
British debutant John Otugade exited at the semi-final stage on Saturday, finishing fifth in his race in 6.67 secs.
Elsewhere on the penultimate night of action, Ireland's Mark English qualified for Sunday's men's 800m final, running one minute 45.89 seconds for third place in his semi-final, but British debutant Justin Davies missed out.
The British team will have several opportunities to add to their medal tally on the final day of competition in Apeldoorn.
Britain's George Mills will aim to deny Jakob Ingebrigtsen a fourth consecutive men's 3,000m title, which would mean the Norwegian matching the men's record of seven European indoor titles.
Fresh from his 1500m triumph, Ingebrigtsen coasted to victory in his heat and will be the strong favourite to complete a third consecutive 1500m and 3,000m double.
However, Mills, son of former England international footballer Danny, will line up as the fastest European 3,000m runner this year and controlled his heat to reach the final, where he is joined by team-mate James West.
Three British athletes qualified for the women's final, with two-time bronze medallist Melissa Courtney-Bryant, the fastest European woman this year, joined by 18-year-old debutant Innes FitzGerald and Hannah Nuttall.
Morgan Lake will target her first international medal since the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the women's high jump final, in which Ukraine's Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh goes for a third consecutive title.
GB captain Scott Lincoln will aim to qualify for the men's shot put final during the morning session, while Jade O'Dowda contests the women's pentathlon, and sprinters Bianca Williams, Joy Eze and Amy Hunt bid for women's 60m medals.
Relay honours are also up for grabs in the men's and women's 4x400m finals, with Dutch star Femke Bol aiming to bring the curtain down with a second gold at her home championships.
Coverage of the final day of action begins at 09:00 GMT on BBC Two and the BBC Sport website and app.