Jeremiah Azu had little chance to celebrate his European title earlier this month having become a father a couple of days before but now he hopes new dad strength can propel him to world gold
Two hours after returning home with a European gold medal, Jeremiah Azu found himself dealing with his week-old son’s poonami. “Straight back to earth,” Wales’ fastest man says of the messy 1am clean-up job, and he would have it no other way.
Azu, 23, was not sold on the theory of new dad strength a month ago but after securing his first international championship win in Apeldoorn he is firmly buying into it. His sleep pattern remains all over the place because he is determined to ease the burden on his partner. And going from being “King of Europe to straight on the nappies” left him with the realisation that “life comes at you fast.”
But Azu has arrived in Nanjing for this weekend’s World Indoors as the fastest man this year over 60m and full of confidence. The absence of a host of big hitters, including reigning champion Christian Coleman and Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, suggests another medal is within reach.
“I’m always going into everything thinking I can win,” he says. “I’m coming in with the fastest time, so I guess there’s a sense of pressure, but I kind of like that feeling. I think I’m definitely capable of doing something special, so I don’t see why I can’t walk away with the gold.”
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The shortest sprint is prone to an even greater unpredictability and Azu himself knows all about his sport’s ability to surprise following the disappointment of a false start at last summer’s Games.
Yet that experience has been firmly consigned to the past – “It’s gone, it’s never going to come back” – and he insists it offers no additional motivation to his current ambitions.
Instead it is all about living in the present. During the winter he moved home from Marco Airale’s renowned training group in Italy both for family planning and to be of greater assistance to his local church, where his father, Alex, is the pastor.
Azu sings in the church band and credits his faith for giving him the mental strength to overcome his Paris heartbreak. Singing from an early age continues to help him on the track too.
“It takes the pressure off when I’ve got all these people watching me,” he says. “Standing on stage as a kid is a lot more daunting. I’m a performer at the end of the day and I’ve come to love it, even now. Like in church, there’s so much passion that I put into it.”
He was confident, entertaining and on a different level to his rivals in the Netherlands two weeks ago. And his new reason to perform is undoubtedly helping.
“I’m doing this for my own child, I’m doing this for my partner, I’m doing this for a piece of us. But for some reason that has just made things easier. I’m not sure what it is. I can’t really explain it still.”
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