British sprinter wins his third national indoor title on the trot and will head to Torun in March to defend his world indoor crown.
After speeding to victory in the men’s 60m at the Novuna UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Saturday (Feb 14) Jeremiah Azu was a little emotional at the finish.
There were even a few tears after he crossed the line in 6.56 and glanced into the stands to see his family watching at the Utilita Arena.
Azu sealed a hat-trick of UK indoor 60m titles in consecutive years – the first athlete to do this since Dwain Chambers – as Romell Glave, who beat Azu earlier this season in Stockholm, was runner-up in 6.62 and Jody Smith third in 6.63.
“I wanted to come here and defend the title and winning this three times in a row is not an easy feat,” said Azu. “When I saw my family everything was bubbling up in that moment and the emotions got to me a little.”
Last winter Azu won the European and world indoor 60m titles and he looks in similarly great shape this year.
“This is a good dress rehearsal for the World Indoors,” he said. “It’s good practise to defend the title.”
Was it close to the perfect race? “I need to go back to watch it as it was kind of a blur,” he said. “The time (6.56) is probably in my top five ever and I’ve got one more race to go and then go to the champs.”
He has one more race between now and the World Indoor Championships on March 20-22 but he will be doing more than just ticking over in coming days.
“I think we’ve got a few weeks so we can get some big load in, hit the nervous system, then recover and get ready for the Worlds,” he said.