Great Britain celebrated a sensational one-two finish in the men’s 100m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, as Romell Glave led his teammate Jeremiah Azu to the podium. Glave, 26, clinched the gold medal with a dominant time of 10.09 seconds, marking his first major international title. The victory makes him the sixth British man to win the European 100m crown, and the third in the past six editions after Zharnel Hughes in 2018 and James Dasaolu in 2014.
Reflecting on the achievement, Glave described the result as “total domination” for the British team, which also saw Amy Hunt secure gold in the women’s 100m event just 24 hours earlier. This success follows the recent spotlight on Hunt, who came of age with her European 100m gold, and the ongoing interest in the team behind Keely Hodgkinson’s golden rise and her hunt for a world record.
Glave, who previously earned bronze at the 2022 championships in Rome, credited his recent progress to a refined focus on his start, specifically sharpening the first 40 metres of his race. After surging to the front by the 30-metre mark, he never looked back, eventually raising a finger to the sky in celebration as he crossed the finish line. “Upgrading from a bronze medal from 2024 is an amazing feeling,” Glave said Sport. “The aim was to get a British one, two, and three, but we got one-two, which is also amazing. I was ready for this occasion. The last week or so has been up and down with my body, but I was able to come out here regardless of how I was feeling.”
Azu, the 2025 world and European indoor 60m champion, followed his teammate across the line in 10.16 seconds to secure the silver medal, improving on his own bronze from 2022. The home crowd at Alexander Stadium erupted as the pair secured the top two spots. German athlete Owen Ansah completed the podium, while Italy’s two-time defending champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs was forced to pull up with an injury at the halfway point.
Three British men had initially qualified for the final, though Louie Hinchliffe did not contest the medal race. For Glave, this win represents a career-defining moment after years of injury setbacks, including a back fracture. Having broken the 10-second barrier for the first time in legal conditions earlier this June, he has demonstrated consistent form, running sub-10 times on six separate occasions this season, including a notable victory over Jacobs in Italy.
Azu, despite a season he described as “the most irregular” and “quite inconsistent,” was pleased to return to the international podium. “When it comes to championships, I know I find my best,” Azu said. “We always say times are irrelevant at this point. You want to go out there and race for medals. I want to put in my best performance in the final and I felt like I did that today. You always want to be on the podium. In the 100m there are over 100 guys that are competitive, so it is always tough.”
Elsewhere at the championships, the track action remained intense. Matthew Hudson-Smith, who has a stand named after him at the stadium where he trained as a junior, qualified for Wednesday’s men’s 400m final, though he had to settle for second place in his heat. “I misjudged it a little bit. I thought I was clear,” Hudson-Smith said. “I was looking at the screen and I saw the guy try and surge. But he ran a PB, so he’s messed up with the final ahead.”
In the women’s 100m hurdles, the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser clinched gold by a mere one-thousandth of a second. A photo finish was required to separate Visser from Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska in a dramatic conclusion to the race. Meanwhile, Hannah Nuttall finished fifth in the women’s 5,000m, a race won by Italy’s defending champion Nadia Battocletti.
The event has faced some scrutiny, with recent reports highlighting criticism regarding empty seats and ticket prices at the European Championships. Despite these logistical discussions, the performance of the British sprinters has remained the primary focus for local fans, as the team continues to build momentum on the track.
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He has run sub-10 on six separate occasions, in all conditions, this season – including when he defeated the in-form Jacobs, a surprise Olympic champion five years ago, on his home turf in Italy.
That confidence was evident as Glave dominated his semi-final earlier in the evening, and he executed to perfection when it mattered most.
A talented junior, Glave was the fastest 17-year-old in the world in 2017 after he recorded a time of 10.21.
After a golden 2025 season, Azu had finished fourth and fifth respectively at this year’s World Indoor Championships and Commonwealth Games, with a season’s best of 10.00 in Glasgow two weeks ago not proving to be enough.
While it was not gold in Birmingham, the 25-year-old was delighted to secure his return to an international podium following what he described as a “tough year”.
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