The 24-year-old is hoping to build on a strong indoor season that saw him narrowly miss out on defending his world 60m crown, as he set a new PB of 6.45s to become the second-fastest Brit of all-time over the distance.
Jeremiah Azu wants a great British summer of sprinting to begin with diamonds in Botswana.
The 2025 60m world champion has big plans for success on home soil this year ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, before Birmingham hosts the European Athletics Championships, the first time it has been held on UK soil.
The 24-year-old is hoping to build on a strong indoor season that saw him narrowly miss out on defending his world 60m crown, as he set a new PB of 6.45s to become the second-fastest Brit of all-time over the distance.
The Welshman now turns his attention to the 100m, beginning with the World Athletics Relays Championships in Botswana this weekend, where diamond-encrusted medals are up for grabs.
It is also a chance to start the outdoor season strongly and lay down a marker for the rest of the world also in attendance in Gaborone, with the Novuna Great Britain & Northern Ireland team looking to make amends after failing to finish at the same event last year and September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
“We’ve seen the track that we’re going to be running on,” said Azu. “They’ve had some races there, and there’s been some great times. We’re going into it excited but ultimately, as British sprinters, we always want to leave with a piece of hardware.
“I think once you start focussing on other people, that’s where you lose it. You miss the mark. It’s not like a football game where you need to know your opponent because you need to see what they’re doing. What we do, we’re in our own lane. Technically, nobody can affect us so we’ve just got to do and control what we can.”
At last year’s championships in Guangzhou, China, British hopes were dashed when Eugene Amo-Dadzie hared off prematurely on the anchor leg, but this year, a team containing Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake will be hoping to right that wrong ahead of a summer full of medal opportunities.
Azu was part of the team that won European 4x100m gold in Munich four years ago and wants to relive that feeling in front of a home crowd in Birmingham.
He said: “I think that failure or that feeling of underachieving or underperforming last year is going to set us up for the next cycle. It’s going to be sick to have the Europeans in the UK for the first time. I think Birmingham is like two hours away from every major city, which is perfect.
“As a relay team, as individuals, and I think for British athletes as a whole, it’s going to be great to have a home championship experience. Especially the Europeans, as we always compete so well at those.”
Among those watching will be his one-year-old son, Azaire.
“It would be special for him to look back when he’s a bit older and see that he was there,” said Azu. “Maybe some pictures and videos of him taking it all in. Hold on to that moment and realise that if my dad can do it, why can’t I? It might not be athletics, it might not be sport, but whatever he wants to apply himself to in life, he can definitely reach the top of it.
“He might be able to learn from me that hard work and application can get you into a lot of different places.”
Azu may become a role model not just to his son, with the captaincy of the Welsh Commonwealth team still undecided. As the fastest Welshman in history, he would be a worthy candidate.
“I haven’t even thought about that once,” he said. “It’s an honour to be put in those positions. If that is a part of it, it will be such a blessing. I’ll definitely take that as it comes. The British national anthem is straightforward. The Welsh one, there are certain parts where you just mime it. Before the Commonwealths, I definitely need to get one or two parts down.”
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