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Jeremiah Azu is an Olympic Bronze Medalist
10/08/2024 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
Jeremiah Azu became the first Welsh track and field athlete in 28 years to win an Olympic medal when he led the Great Britain 4x100m relay squad to bronze in Paris on Friday night.
The result completed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the Cardiff Athletics sprinter after being disqualified for a false start in the heats of the individual 100m less than a week before.
The 23-year-old had shown huge strength of character by running the first leg of the relay semi-final on Thursday morning as the team qualified for the final.
And Wales’ fastest ever man took on the responsibility once again in Friday night’s final in front of almost 80,000 people at a packed Stade De France.
Azu ran an excellent first leg and like in the semi-final played his part in a smooth change over to fellow Olympic debutant Louie Hinchcliffe on the second leg.
That transfer from Azu to Hinchcliffe was in stark contrast to that of the USA where former World Champion Christian Coleman and Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek fluffed their lines which led to the eventual disqualification of the favourites.
There were no such problems for the GB quartet, which saw Hinchcliffe hand off to Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who in turn released Zharnel Hughes.
The British record holder produced a blistering anchor leg which saw GB claim bronze in 37.61 behind South Africa and gold medallists Canada.
Afterwards, Azu, who became the first Welsh athlete to win an Olympic medal since Jamie Baulch and Iwan Thomas claimed silver in the 4x400m at the Atlanta Games in 1996, told the BBC: “It’s unreal!
“The champs didn’t start great for me so to leave with something is amazing, we wouldn’t be in this position without each other, we trust each other.
“The guys put their trust in me to start us off again and it paid off. So, thank you to you guys.”
It was a successful night all round for the GB team as the women’s 4x400m relay team earned a silver medal and Katarina Johnson-Thompson did likewise in the heptathlon.