Jeremiah Azu helps GB secure World Championship relay qualification

Cardiff Met alumnus Jeremiah Azu returned to the world stage this weekend as Great Britain & Northern Ireland secured qualification for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in the men’s 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.

Azu, who lined up in a strong GB & NI sprint squad alongside Zharnel Hughes, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Romell Glave, ran the opening leg in the heats as Britain finished second in heat three in 38.01 seconds. South Africa won the heat in 37.68, with Britain’s top-two finish enough to secure both a place in the final and direct qualification for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

The final brought frustration for the British quartet, with the men’s 4x100m team unable to get the baton safely round. It was a disappointing end to the weekend, but the key objective of securing a World Championship place had already been achieved through their heat performance.

For Azu, the World Relays provided another opportunity to test himself on the global relay stage as Britain looked to build momentum ahead of a packed championship period. The Cardiff sprinter, who studied at Cardiff Met, continues to establish himself among Britain’s leading sprint names after an outstanding indoor season that saw him lower his 60m personal best to 6.45 seconds, making him the second-fastest Briton of all time over the distance.

Attention will now turn towards a major summer of athletics, with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham both on the horizon. Those events could give Azu the chance to compete on home soil for both Wales and Great Britain during a significant year for British sprinting.

For Cardiff Met, Azu’s continued presence at the top end of world athletics adds another chapter to the university’s proud sporting story. A former Cardiff Met student and one of Wales’ standout sprint talents, he remains part of a growing group of alumni, students and athletes with links to the university competing across major international stages.

While the final did not deliver the result Britain would have wanted, Azu and the GB & NI squad leave Botswana with World Championship qualification secured and valuable relay experience banked ahead of the seasons to come.