World Athletics Indoor Championships: Jeremiah Azu wins 60m gold

Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu sprinted to 60m gold in a dramatic photo finish at the World Athletics Indoor Championships to secure the first global title of his career.

Within two weeks of his triumph at the European indoors, the 23-year-old announced himself as a world champion by equalling that personal best performance of 6.49 seconds.

It saw him cross the line one hundredth of a second ahead of Australian Lachlan Kennedy, who was initially shown as the winner on the big screen in Nanjing, China.

World Indoor gold has added a stunning conclusion to a whirlwind month for Azu, who celebrated the birth of his son just one week before claiming his first individual international title on the European stage.

Azu had his hands on his head as his name flashed up in second place, but the Briton was soon sprinting away in ecstatic celebration when his victory was confirmed.

“I knew I could win it. I said at the Europeans I want to take over the world. This is just the start of our journey,” Azu told BBC Sport.

“The plan is to keep on winning. The sky isn’t the limit – there is way, way more than that. Let’s see what the summer brings – I’m excited for it.”

Elsewhere on the opening day of action inside the Nanjing Cube, British 1500m runners Georgia Hunter Bell and Neil Gourley progressed to their respective finals, while Amber Anning underlined her gold medal credentials with a statement 400m qualification.

The three-day championships continue on Saturday morning, with Britain’s Molly Caudery aiming to defend her women’s pole vault final (02:10 GMT) before Anning bids for gold.

It has already been a year of significant change for Azu away from the track – one that is bringing out the best in the Welshman on it.

After what he has described as a “bittersweet” Olympics, where 4x100m relay bronze accompanied disqualification in the individual event, Azu took the decision to leave his training group in Italy and return to Wales to start his family.

It is a move that has seen him reunite with Helen James, the coach he credits with encouraging him to take up the sport as a teenager.

High on confidence after running a personal best 6.49 secs to seal his breakthrough triumph in Dutch city Apeldoorn 13 days ago, he stated then that he was “coming to take it all”.

Beginning his bid for a first individual podium on the global stage, Azu clocked 6.53 secs to qualify for the semi-finals and improved to 6.52 in booking his place in a wide-open final, where he once again rose to the occasion by equalling his lifetime best.

“I was a bit emotional before the final with my coach. The last few years have been very difficult for me and this morning I was thinking about it and reflecting,” said Azu.

“It’s so important to surround yourself with people that believe in you and that care about you. If I came last, they would be the same. That is huge for me.”

On his decision to move back to Cardiff, Azu added: “It’s been huge. Family is everything to me. I sacrificed that for the last two years.

“Being back with my family, having that support team around me, is huge. They allow me to believe in myself and that’s something you can’t teach. It’s so important to success.”

Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Hunter Bell won her heat in four minutes 09.21 seconds to qualify for Sunday’s final, but European bronze medallist Revee Walcott-Nolan missed out.

In the men’s event, which also concludes on Sunday, British team captain Gourley was first in his heat in 3:36.60 and will meet Norway’s gold medal favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the final.

Olympic finalist Anning set the fastest time of the women’s 400m heats, clocking 50.79 secs in setting up her shot at a first individual international medal.

Ireland’s Kate O’Connor claimed women’s pentathlon silver with a final points total of 4742, 79 behind Finland’s champion Saga Vanninen.

The first gold of the championship was won by Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez, who took the men’s triple jump title with a 17.80m leap.

South Korea’s Woo Sang-hyeok won men’s high jump gold with a clearance over 2.31m, while Canada’s Sarah Mitton produced a best throw of 20.48m for women’s shot put gold.