By Owen Morgan
Jeremiah Azu is back in Wales and he announced his return with a bang at the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships.
After two years based in Italy, the Olympic 4x100m relay bronze medallist has returned home to Cardiff to be closer to family, friends and coach Helen James.
Azu celebrated his first races back in his home city for two-and-a-half years by winning the Welsh senior 60m title in a new championship best time of 6.64 last weekend.
The occasion was made all the more special for Azu as he was joined on the podium by his younger brother Alex, who claimed the bronze medal behind their fellow training partner and Cardiff Athletics clubmate, Lewis Stephens.
Clearly delighted to be back living, training and competing on home soil, Azu said after the race: “That was amazing. It’s great to be back in Cardiff, where it all began.
“It just makes me smile. Moments like this are why I started in athletics. So, it’s great to experience it at this point in my career.
“I’ve moved back home and we’ve practised a lot of stuff in training, so it was an opportunity to try and test it out.
“I haven’t raced this championship since 2020 and I’ve never actually won it. Today has allowed me to look back and see how far I’ve come. Sometimes we’re so focused on the next thing, but reflection is quite important.
“It’s just been a day of reflection. It’s been a day of sharing these moments with the people that are closest to me.
“I haven’t raced in Cardiff since 2022 at the Run With the Wind meeting. So, it was two years ago outdoors, and five years ago indoors.
“It’s just cool to be back. I always feel the support from the Welsh nation so it’s great to compete in front of them.”
Jeremiah Azu pictured representing Wales at NIAC in 2019. Pic: Owen Morgan
Azu was particularly delighted his younger brother Alex was also amongst the medals and is looking forward to training and developing alongside him in Cardiff.
“My little brother on the podium! Yeah, it’s stuff you dream about,” said Azu. “It’s stuff we speak about at home.
“So, to make it happen, it’s the start of a great journey between us being back training with him now. I’m just going try and take him to the next level.”
Azu himself has come a long way since he last ran competitively at the National Indoor Athletics Centre (NIAC) in Cardiff.
On that day in January 2020, he finished second in the Welsh Indoor Championships 60m final to Great Britain international and Cardiff clubmate, Sam Gordon.
Since then, Azu has gone on to become Wales’ fastest ever man over 100m and establish himself as one of the world’s best young sprinters.
In 2022, he became the first Welshman to win the British 100m title since Ron Jones achieved the feat 53 years earlier.
Azu went on to claim an individual bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships in Munich and finished fifth representing Wales over 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Jeremiah Azu winning for Wales at an indoor international at NIAC back in 2019. Pic: Owen Morgan
In the autumn of 2022, Azu upped sticks and headed to Italy to become part of coach Marco Airale’s famed group in Padova.
There, he trained along with the likes of fellow GB internationals Daryll Neita, Reece Prescod and Adam Gemili.
The following year, Azu set a new Welsh 100m record of 10.08 when he broke Christian Malcolm’s 21-year-old standard at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester.
Last May, he went on to dip under the 10 second barrier for the first time as he clocked 9.97 at a meeting in Germany.
By now a regular on the global Wanda Diamond League circuit, Azu was selected to represent GB at last summer’s Paris Olympics after finishing second at the UK Championships and trials.
The 23-year-old has since described his experiences in Paris as “bittersweet” having been disqualified in the first round of the individual 100m following a false start in front of 80,000 spectators at a packed Stade De France.
However, he showed remarkable resilience and strength of character to step out into the same arena just a few days later. Once again taking to the blocks in order to run the vital first leg for GB’s 4x100m squad as they started their campaign.
Jeremiah Azu, Lewis Stephens and Alex Azu with coach Helen James. Pic: Owen Morgan
Azu went on to lead the British squad to a bronze medal in the 4x100m final, where he became the first Welsh track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal for 28 years.
Paris wasn’t the first time Azu had to show the strength of his character by bouncing back from disappointments.
In 2019, the then 18-year-old was the red hot favourite going into the European Under-20 Athletics Championships 100m final in Sweden. But he pulled up sharply clutching his left hamstring as he led going into the closing stages of the race.
Last February, he was forced to pull out of the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow due to injury.
When I pointed out a lot had happened since he last competed at NIAC, Azu emphatically agreed.
“Exactly! Looking back, my first ever race in athletics, when I really started taking it seriously, was the Christmas classic here. Honestly, it is literally a full circle moment today,” said Azu.
“When you start, especially for me, you always believe you’re going to get there, but we don’t see the journey.
“If someone was to tell me all the things that would happen to get there, I probably would be like, ‘nah, I’m alright’!
“But I know that God’s got a plan for my career, so I’m trusting that plan, and I’m going through it.
“Obviously Paris, individually, was a heartbreak, but it’s part of my story. It’s part of my testimony, and one day I’ll be able to look back and then tell the story of why I needed that to happen to get to that next level.”
Jeremiah Azu competing in Cardiff on Saturday.. Pic: Owen Morgan
Azu is grateful for his GB team mates and management for believing in him to lead them out in the relay despite having false started a few days before.
“I thank the guys for trusting me,” said Azu. “I was in exactly same position again, just four days later. And it’s not like I’m just on the straight, or any other leg. I’m starting . . . I’m in the blocks again!
“I just had to just be patient. My family was there, and they got me through it. It was an emotional time, but if they weren’t there, I don’t think I would have got through it.”
Azu’s family and his faith are a huge part of his life. He has often spoken about how important both are to him.
And he was once again quick to praise his family following Saturday’s win in Cardiff.
“I’ve been blessed with an amazing family,” he said. “I always put it down to them. I wouldn’t be where I am without them, my parents, my siblings, my partner, my cousins – everyone.
“I don’t think they realise the impact they have on my life. I’m so glad that I’m able to continue this next part of my career from home, to share these moments even more with them.”
Jeremiah Azu is enjoying being back training and competing in Cardiff. Pic: Owen Morgan
Being back close to his family, church and friends played a huge part in his decision to return to Wales after more than two years living in Italy and travelling to races around the globe.
“I’d race and then go back to my flat in Italy,” explained Azu. “That time in between races, it’s a lot of downtime, but now I’ll be around them in the downtime, which will make all the difference.
“I think focusing on my mental health and my family time, it’s going to help my career even more.
“It was difficult (being in Italy). I mean, I did two years of it. I’d never lived away from home. I even did university from home.
“I went straight into the deep end, halfway across Europe. I’m glad I did it. I learned a lot about myself – that I can do that.
“And I learned a lot in terms of athletics, what it takes to be at that level.
“But running is running, you can’t invent these new techniques. It’s the little things that make a difference. I’ve kept the little things that I’ve learned over the last two years. I’m going to just keep using that to try and bring as many people along with me.”
Indeed, Azu is hoping his return to Wales will help the development of other athletes within his training group under coach James.
“The move back to Wales wasn’t just about me,” explains Azu. “I’m getting to train with these guys that I’m on the podium with. Lewis (Stephens), he’s a good chap, my brother, I want Wales to be a country that’s spoken about all over the place, you know?
“It’s not going to be easy, but that’s the goal, to drag as many people as I can with me.”
Helping to plot that goal will be coach James, who first convinced the teenage Azu to switch from football to athletics and guided him to his early success.
“It’s amazing being back with Helen,” said Azu. “She really knows how to get me in the right frame of mind for competing.
“She’ll give me little comments, or gestures, or looks, and it’ll just put my mind in the right place.
“And I think athletics, I’ve learned, is not all mental, but it’s a huge part of it. I’d say like 80 to 90 per cent of it is mental. Once you have any doubt, it’s game over.
“So yeah, I’m really focusing on the mental part of it, learning about myself, about how to compete. It’s an ongoing process. It never stops.”
It certainly doesn’t. Azu’s next goal is to reach the 100m final at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Back in Cardiff, with his family, faith and friends behind him, you wouldn’t bet against it.