by Stuart Weir
Sprinting to glory.
If yesterday was frustrating for Team GB, day three ended on a high with two medals in the men’s 60. Jeremiah Azu Had taken bronze at the outdoor European Championships in Munich in 2022 in the 100m. The following year he had been 6th in the European indoors. He made the Olympic team but was DQed for a false start in the 100m but came back to take a relay medal.
A few years ago he took the courageous step to leave his home in Cardiff to go and train in Italy with Marco Airale and then decided last summer to move back to UK. This week he got his reward with the gold medal and PR of 6.49.
Not many people knew his background that he had been born in Netherlands. He shocked and impressed at the press conference and after his 60 meter victory by speaking Dutch. Still just 23 he has his best years ahead of him. He said of his victory: “This morning I felt a bit flat before the semi final then I saw my family and we prayed. After I left them I was thinking, where would I be without these guys? They lifted me up. Once I saw them it just shut down any doubt, I walked into that warm-up area and felt amazing just by seeing them.
“Huge moment becoming a father, becoming European Champion. My son is going to be able to look back on this and see what his Dad was doing which is an amazing feeling. If I wasn’t motivated enough already, it is another reason to go hard, another reason to get up in the morning. All these little things add up; I won by 3 100ths of a second and that is the little differences he makes. We are just scratching the surface, this is only the beginning. We have so much more to go”.
Andrew Robertson is 34 and he has never run sub 10. He has always been better at the 60 than the 100. His time for 3rd place was 6.55. His assessment of the evening was: “I have been doing this sport for many, many years, competing at national international, under 23 junior youth. To finally get the medal after hard work, a lot set backs, a lot of disappointments, a lot of hard times. It wasn’t particularly a great run from me but that is my competitive nature and I have got myself in the best shape ever. Not bad for a 34 year old!
“I have never had an international medal and today I can’t really ask for more; I am very proud. It was an absolute stacked 60m today. I went in with a season best of 6.61, and I didn’t even have the official qualifying time and I came away with a bronze medal. Plus one the fastest times in Europe this year. I am very proud and very happy”.
