Jeremiah Azu flies to 60m success in Apeldoorn

New father savours his Dutch homecoming to take European Indoor title, whereas British team-mate Andrew Robertson lands bronze

Jeremiah Azu grew up in and competes for Nice Britain, however he was additionally born within the Netherlands and regarded very a lot at dwelling as he flew to the boys’s 60m title in entrance of the Dutch crowd on the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. 

The 23-year-old destroyed his private finest in a European lead of 6.49 to take the primary senior particular person worldwide title of his profession, holding off Henrik Larsson’s Swedish file of 6.52, whereas Andrew Robertson – a late call-up to the British staff – grabbed his first senior worldwide medal on the age of 34, coming third in 6.55.

Life has modified quickly for the brand new champion in 2025. Not solely did he develop into a father to son Azaire only one week in the past, he additionally lately took the choice to maneuver from Italy, the place he had lived and educated underneath coach Marco Airale since 2022, and return to his dwelling city of Cardiff. He’s working as soon as once more along with his first coach, Helen James.

Along with his dad and mom and brother wanting on from the stands, the Olympic relay bronze medallist constructed on a semi-final efficiency of 6.52 that despatched out a message to his rivals and, in fact, he was a fantastic winner when it got here to the ultimate reckoning. He’s Britain’s first winner of this occasion since Richard Kilty in 2017.  

Azu’s father Alex is a pastor in Wales and it was a need to assist that ministry, and settle his household, that had been massive contributing components to the foremost adjustments he has made in his life. After the agony of being disqualified within the opening spherical of the 100m ultimately summer season’s Olympics, Azu has certainly stored the religion. 

“I believed I might it – and different folks thought I might do it – nevertheless it wasn’t ‘executed’ till I truly achieved it,” mentioned a beaming Azu, who was born in Rotterdam to Ghanaian dad and mom however grew up within the Welsh capital. His maternal grandfather is Dutch. “Once I crossed the road I didn’t suppose it was me [who had won]. It was onerous to see who had obtained it. When my brother was pointing at me, like ‘it was you, it was you’, I obtained loopy. The gold means the world to me.”

There have been the sleepless nights that include the arrival of a new child to take care of, however the two-time European U23 100m champion added: “I’ve obtained this without end now. My son will get to observe his dad – in about 10 years when he understands issues – and say: ‘He’s a reasonably cool man’.”

In an interview with AW simply earlier than these championships, the 2022 European 4x100m relay gold medallist mentioned he had felt “misplaced within the sport” for the previous couple of years. Requested if this was the beginning of him discovering himself, he mentioned: “I’m again, child!” He’ll now goal the World Indoor Championships later this month.

It was an enormous second, too, for Robertson, who had been on standby for Apeldoorn and was given his probability on Monday following the withdrawal of Romell Glave. He now has the World Indoor qualifying normal, too, following what was his second-fastest time ever.

“I’ve been doing this sport for a lot of, a few years,” he mentioned. “To lastly get the medal after onerous work, a number of setbacks, a number of disappointments, a number of onerous instances [means so much]. It wasn’t significantly an incredible run from me however that’s my aggressive nature and I’ve obtained myself in the most effective form ever. Not dangerous for a 34-year-old!”

On an evening the place the highlight was on sprinting, Lieke Klaver seized her probability to shine and provides the Netherlands their second gold medal of those championships. 

The World Indoor silver medallist put herself in cost and led on the bell in 23.4 however was pushed very shut within the remaining levels, the roar of the Apeldoorn crowd serving to to take her to 400m victory in a European main time of fifty.38. That efficiency simply edged out Norway’s Henriette Jæger (50.45) and the 50.99 of Paula Sevilla that equalled the Spanish file. 

Gold within the males’s occasion went to Attila Molnár, the Hungarian working 45.25 to seize his first main title and his nation’s first European Indoor victory in a monitor occasion for 40 years. Maksymilian Szwed broke the European under-23 and Polish information with 45.31 to land silver, whereas a PB of 45.59 introduced bronze for Frenchman Jimy Soudril. 

A PB of 1:45.65 from Ryan Clarke raised an enormous cheer from the stands as the house athlete certified quickest for the boys’s 800m remaining. Spaniard Elvin Josué Canales (1:45.69) was proper behind him within the first semi-final, whereas Belgian Eliott Crestan gained the second race in 1:45.84. British indoor champion Justin Davies didn’t progress after ending sixth within the opening warmth in 1:47.17.

Former European under-20 champion Audrey Werro was quickest in ladies’s 800m qualifying, the Swiss successful the opening semi-final in 2:01.76 from Frenchwoman Clara Liberman (2:01.79). Poland’s Anna Wielgosz gained the second semi-final in 2:03.29.

Sander Skotheim emerged triumphant from a superb battle with world indoor champion Simon Ehammer to win his first main gold and likewise break his European indoor heptathlon file into the cut price. 

The Norwegian had gone into the ultimate occasion of the competitors, the 1000m, trailing his Swiss rival by 50 factors, however knew he possessed the faster private finest. Skotheim wanted to win by a margin of round four-and-a-half seconds to make certain of the highest prize and left nothing to probability, working a championship finest 2:32.72 to hit the road first. Ehammer did produce a PB run, however his 2:41.76 meant he needed to accept silver this time. 

Skotheim’s remaining complete was 6558, smashing his European file of 6485 set simply final month, and strikes him to fifth on the all-time record. Ehammer’s tally of 6506 represented a Swiss file, whereas Until Steinforth broke the German file with 6388 for bronze and the Estonian mark additionally fell due to fourth placer Johannes Erm’s rating of 6380.

After silver medals within the World Indoor Championships and the European championships final yr, in addition to the European Indoors and U23 Championships in 2023, plus the European U20 Championships in 2021, Skotheim lastly obtained the improve he was searching for. 

Within the area, Italy’s Larissa Iapichino maintained a household custom in successful the ladies’s lengthy leap title. Her mom, Fiona Could, gained gold within the occasion on the 1998 version of those championships in Valencia with a leap of 6.91m. Iapichino, nonetheless, was fast to level out that she managed to emulate the feat on Saturday night time (March 8) with a third-round effort of 6.94m that meant she upgraded her European indoor silver from 2023 and European out of doors silver in Rome final yr.

Annik Kälin of Switzerland gained silver together with her first-round 6.90m that broke the Swiss file, whereas Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany claimed bronze with 6.88m on her remaining leap.

There was additionally success for Italy within the males’s triple leap, a world-leading leap of 17.71m within the fifth spherical giving Andy Díaz Hernández his maiden worldwide triple leap title. The Cuban-born Italian Olympic bronze medallist took gold from the grasp of Max Heß, who had led the competitors along with his 17.43m first-round leap – the furthest on the planet this yr at that time. It was a fifth successive European Indoor medal for the German. Italy had one other medal to rejoice, with Andrea Dallavalle taking bronze along with his third-round 17.19m.

An ideal file, culminating in a world-leading private finest clearance of two.34m, gave Oleh Doroshchuk victory within the males’s excessive leap. The Ukrainian, a European bronze medallist final summer season, held stored the problem of Jan Štefela at bay, the Czech managing a finest of two.29 for silver – the identical top achieved by Italian bronze medallist. Matteo Sioli.

Within the ladies’s pole vault remaining, 2021 champion Angelica Moser sampled that successful feeling once more due to a clearance of 4.80m. Silver went to Tina Šutej of Slovenia (4.75m), whereas European under-23 champion Marie-Julie Bonnin (4.70m) of France accomplished the rostrum.

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