2025 will be 'best year of my life', says GB's Azu

Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu says 2025 will be the best year of his life after winning men's 60m gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championships.

The 23-year-old ran a personal best of 6.49 seconds in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands to clinch his first individual international title.

And the Welsh sprinter thanked his partner - who gave birth to his son a week earlier - for giving him the chance to shine on the European stage.

"I've been saying to my family and friends that 2025 is going to be the best year of my life," Azu told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It's great to get it started like this, and I'm excited for the future.

"I had my son a week ago and then I had to leave. A bit of an up and down, but it's part of the story and the sport, we've got to be away.

"I'm grateful to my partner that she allowed me to come out here and get some business done."

Sweden's Henrik Larsson took silver with a time of 6.52 seconds, with Azu's GB team-mate Andrew Robertson third in Saturday night's final in 6.55 seconds.

With just 0.06 seconds separating the top three, Azu admitted he had to endure a nervy wait after crossing the finish line to see if he had clinched victory.

"In those moments everything's heightened, you're super aware of everyone. The further away someone is from you, the more in front of you they look," he added.

"The two guys to my right were going well, and I could see them so I made sure I dipped for everything I had.

"Watching it back, I did see from start to finish I was in the lead, but in those moments you can't really tell, it feels like a completely different race.

"I got back to my room and I watched the race. Quite a surreal moment but I'm super happy with the outcome."

Azu is now targeting selection for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, which take place between 21 and 23 March in Nanjing, China.

And Azu feels his time of sub-6.5 seconds in the Netherlands proves he can compete at the highest level this year.

"I think the selection meeting is tomorrow so until then we're waiting, but fingers crossed," he added.

"I've always believed I can run 6.4 so it's nice to finally achieve it. The time speaks for itself, people see that and know I'm going to be competitive on the world stage this year."

Robertson, 34, received a late call-up to the GB squad and said he "can't really ask for anything better" after landing his first individual international medal.

"I was actually a reserve just shortly after the nationals. I had a feeling there was an opportunity that I was going to go, so I still trained and stayed sharp just in case," he said.

"When I got the call on Monday that an athlete had withdrawn so there was an opportunity to go, I said 'absolutely, I'll be there straight away'.

"A week later I'm a bronze medallist. I can't really ask for anything better."