New father savours his Dutch homecoming to take Ecu Indoor identify, whilst British team-mate Andrew Robertson lands bronze
Jeremiah Azu grew up in and competes for Nice Britain, however he was once born within the Netherlands and seemed very a lot at house as he flew to the lads’s 60m identify in entrance of the Dutch crowd on the Ecu Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
The 23-year-old destroyed his non-public best possible in a Ecu lead of 6.49 to take the primary senior person global identify of his occupation, keeping off Henrik Larsson’s Swedish file of 6.52, whilst Andrew Robertson – a overdue call-up to the British crew – grabbed his first senior global medal on the age of 34, coming 0.33 in 6.55.
Lifestyles has modified hastily for the brand new champion in 2025. He took the verdict to transport from Italy, the place he had lived and educated below trainer Marco Airale since 2022, and go back to his house the city of Cardiff. He’s running as soon as once more together with his first trainer, Helen James, and is an excessively new father to his son, Azaire.
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Along with his circle of relatives taking a look 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 competition and, if truth be told, he was once a resounding winner when it got here to the overall reckoning. He’s Britain’s first winner of this match since Richard Kilty in 2017.
Azu’s father Alex is a pastor in Wales and it was once a want to lend a hand the ministry, and settle his circle of relatives, that have been large contributing elements to the most important adjustments he has made in his existence. And, after the agony of being disqualified within the opening around of the 100m finally summer time’s Olympics, Azu has certainly stored the religion.
“I believed I could it – and other people thought I could do it – but it wasn’t ‘done’ until I actually achieved it,” stated a beaming Azu, who was once born in Rotterdam to Ghanaian oldsters however grew up in Wales. His maternal grandfather is Dutch. “When I crossed the line I didn’t think it was me [who had won]. It was hard to see who had got it. When my brother was pointing at me, like ‘it was you, it was you’, I got crazy. The gold means the world to me.”
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In an interview with AW simply ahead of those championships, the Ecu 4x100m relay gold medallist from 2022 stated he had felt “lost in the sport” for the previous couple of years. Requested if this was once the beginning of him discovering himself, he stated: “I’m back, baby!” and can now goal the Global Indoor Championships later this month.
It was once an enormous evening, too, for Robertson, who have been on standby for those championships and gained his position when Romell Glave withdrew. He now has the Global Indoor qualifying same old, too.
“I have been doing this sport for many, many years,” he stated. “To finally get the medal after hard work, a lot of setbacks, a lot of disappointments, a lot of hard times [means so much]. 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!”
Lieke Klaver (Getty)
On an evening the place the highlight was once on sprinting, Lieke Klaver seized her likelihood to polish and provides the Netherlands their 2d gold medal of those championships.
The Global Indoor silver medallist put herself in fee and led on the bell in 23.4 however was once driven very shut within the last phases, the roar of the Apeldoorn crowd serving to to take her to 400m victory in a Ecu 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 match went to Attila Molnár, the Hungarian operating 45.25 to seize his first main identify and his country’s first Ecu Indoor victory in a monitor match for 40 years. Maksymilian Szwed broke the Ecu U23 and Polish data with 45.31 to land silver, whilst a PB of 45.59 introduced bronze for Frenchman Jimy Soudril.
A PB of one:45.65 from Ryan Clarke raised a large cheer from the Dutch crowd as the house athlete certified quickest for the lads’s 800m last. Spaniard Elvin Josué Canales (1:45.69) was once proper at the back of him within the first semi-final, whilst Belgian Eliott Crestan received the second one race in 1:45.84. British indoor champion Justin Davies didn’t development after completing 6th within the opening warmth in 1:47.17.
Former Ecu U20 champion Audrey Werro was once quickest within the girls’s 800m qualifying, the Swiss profitable the hole semi-final in 2:01.76 from Frenchwoman Clara Liberman (2:01.79). Poland’s Anna Wielgosz received the second one semi-final in 2:03.29.
Sander Skotheim emerged triumphant from a super combat with international indoor champion Simon Ehammer to take the primary main identify of his occupation and likewise wreck his Ecu indoor heptathlon file into the cut price.
The Norwegian had long past into the overall match of the contest, the 1000m, trailing his Swiss rival by way of 50 issues, however knew he possessed the speedier non-public best possible. Skotheim had to win by way of a margin of round 4 and a part seconds to make sure of the highest prize and left not anything to likelihood, operating a championship best possible 2:32.72 to hit the road first. Ehammer did produce a PB run, however his 2:41.76 intended he needed to accept silver this time.
Skotheim’s last overall was once 6558, smashing his Ecu file of 6485 set simply closing month, and strikes him to 5th at the all-time checklist. Ehammer’s tally of 6506 represented a Swiss file, whilst Until Steinforth broke the German file with 6388 for bronze and the Estonian mark additionally fell due to fourth placer Johannes Erm’s ranking of 6380.
After silver medals within the Global Indoor Championships and the Ecu championships closing 12 months, in addition to the Ecu Indoors and U23 Championships in 2023, plus the Ecu U20 Championships in 2021, Skotheim after all were given the improve he was once in search of.
Within the box, Italy’s Larissa Iapichino maintained a circle of relatives custom in profitable the ladies’s lengthy soar identify. Her mom, Fiona Might, received gold within the match on the 1998 version of those championships in Valencia with a bounce of 6.91m. Iapichino, alternatively, was once fast to indicate that she controlled to emulate the feat on Saturday evening (March 8) with a third-round effort of 6.94m that intended she upgraded her Ecu indoor silver from 2023 and Ecu out of doors silver in Rome closing 12 months.
Annik Kälin of Switzerland received silver along with her first-round 6.90m that broke the Swiss file, whilst Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany claimed bronze with 6.88m on her last soar.
There was once additionally good fortune for Italy within the males’s triple soar, a world-leading bounce of 17.71m within the 5th around giving Andy Díaz Hernández his maiden global triple soar identify. The Cuban-born Italian Olympic bronze medallist took gold from the take hold of of Max Heß, who had led the contest together with his 17.43m first-round soar – the furthest on the planet this 12 months at that time. It was once a 5th successive Ecu Indoor medal for the German. Italy had every other medal to have a good time, with Andrea Dallavalle taking bronze together with his third-round 17.19m.
A great file, culminating in a world-leading non-public best possible clearance of two.34m, gave Oleh Doroshchuk victory within the males’s top soar. The Ukrainian, a Ecu bronze medallist closing summer time, held stored the problem of Jan Štefela at bay, the Czech managing a best possible of two.29 for silver – the similar peak accomplished by way of Italian bronze medallist. Matteo Sioli.
Within the girls’s pole vault last, 2021 champion Angelica Moser sampled that profitable feeling once more due to a clearance of four.80m. Silver went to Tina Šutej of Slovenia (4.75m), whilst Ecu U23 champion Marie-Julie Bonnin (4.70m) of France finished the rostrum.
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