Welshman Jeremiah Azu's euphoric reaction to winning European Championships bronze medal is everything

Welshman Jeremiah Azu could not contain his excitement as he claimed a brilliant bronze medal in the European Championships 100m final.

The 21-year-old sprinter had to wait a little while for confirmation that he had secured his first senior major championship medal, but when it was established that he had indeed finished third behind Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs and Great Britain team-mate Zharnel Hughes in Munich, the young man from Cardiff burst into a wild celebration. Sprinting back down the track, he dropped to the ground with his head in his hands before slapping the surface in disbelief.

As Azu dropped to his knees as he comprehended what he had just done, former Welsh hurdler Colin Jackson remarked that "the Welsh will definitely be celebrating that result for that man". Azu had started strongly over the first 50 metres, before Italian Jacobs and 2018 European Championship gold medallist Hughes managed to pull away.

Cardiff's Azu, who was fifth in the Commonwealth Games 100m final for Wales in Birmingham, finished with a time of 10.13 seconds. The Welsh record is 10.11, held by outgoing UK Athletics coach Christian Malcolm.

Jacobs equalled the championship record of 9.95 - set by Hughes four years ago in Berlin - while Hughes finished with a time of 9.99. Afterwards, Hughes told the BBC he was "proud" of the young Welshman for his focus during the build-up to the final, while Azu - who cut his teeth at Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club - thanked his family and God. Read more about Azu's story here.

There is a big buzz around Azu, who caused a stunning shock to win the 100m British title back in June when he recorded a wind-assisted time of 9.90 seconds that would otherwise have been a championship record. He became the first Welsh 100m UK champion for 53 years, since Ron Jones won the title in 1969.

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