March 2025 is a month that will live long in the memory for Jeremiah Azu, and for British Athletics fans. The Welshman has claimed the World Indoor 60m title, just a few weeks on from winning continental gold in the same event.
British Athletics have sent a team of just 11 athletes to the championships in Nanjing, China, but it comprises plenty of genuine medal contenders. Azu underlined the strength of the team, and backed up his own admission that he is in the shape of his life.
Domestic, Continental, and Global Gold in One Month
Azu has made incredible leaps in such a short space of time, dominating the shortest sprint of them all. Just a few short weeks ago in Birmingham, the 23-year-old defended his British title and he hasn’t looked back.
His victory in Apeldoorn in the European Indoors was his first international senior title, winning that race in a personal best time of 6.49 seconds. The timing couldn’t have been better, with the World Indoors a matter of days away.
While his previous achievements were impressive in themselves, the Worlds was always going to be a step up. The competition would increase, along with the races already in his legs.
Indoor 60m running is always decided by small margins, but this competition was nigh on impossible to predict. Just a couple of hundredths of a second seperated the qualification times of the finalists.
A close final was just about the only guarantee and so it proved. The naturally charismatic Azu faced an excruciating wait for the results to appear, before he was given the win by a solitary hundredth of a second.
An Athlete Born to Entertain
Watching the Briton on the start line is almost as gripping as the race itself. Ahead of his semi final run, Azu stood next to his starting blocks, mimicking a microphone and singing into the camera.
While it made for amusing and wholesome viewing, it also showcased the confidence he was feeling, and how relaxed he was in the midst of a ferociously fought competition.
Following the final, his face was at its most solemn as he awaited his fate. But as the result flashed up on the big screen, his familiar bouncy reaction appeared as he tore around the track in jubilation.
The scenes almost felt like déjà vu watching on, as he even matched the personal best time of 6.49 seconds that he set a few weeks ago.
It was a thrilling race to culminate day one in Nanjing. Eventual silver medalist Lachlan Kennedy of Australia was the initial name to appear on the big screen, before the photo finish showed an impeccable winning lean by Azu.
There was a very popular bronze medalist too, with experienced South African Akani Simbine making the podium. It was the 31-year-olds first indoor championships having previously been a serial outdoor major finalist.
Sky is the Limit… Or is it?
It is turning out to be a dream year for Azu, and he’s chosen a good year to hit his very best stride. Speaking to BBC Sport following his win, he set his sights exceptionally high ahead of the World Championships later in the year.
“I knew I could win it. I’m excited for the future. I said at the Europeans I want to take over the world, this is just the start of the journey.”
“The sky isn’t the limit, there is way way more than that.”
Special moments away from the track have appeared to fuel the desire of Azu within his sport too. Having recently became a father for the first time, his performances have sky rocketed.
After a difficult experience at the 2024 Olympics in Paris which saw him disqualified from the 100m, it is all the more special to see Azu claw himself to the top of the world.
With a hectic track and field calendar scheduled for the rest of 2025, excitement can begin to build. The prospects of Great Britain’s latest World Indoor Athletics champion is a real point of interest moving forward.