Britain shines as Romell Glave grabs gold in European 100m final

Great Britain celebrated a sprint double at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Romell Glave won the men’s 100m gold medal just a day after Amy Hunt took the women’s title.

Glave led a British one-two finish at Alexander Stadium, with Jeremiah Azu taking the silver. Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs pulled up midway through the race.

PUNCH Online reports that Hunt won the women’s 100m gold for Great Britain in 11.00 seconds on Monday. Glave followed it up by winning the men’s 100m gold in 10.09 seconds on Tuesday evening, with Azu claiming silver.

After the race, Glave talked to BBC Sport about his win. He said it showed how much he worked on improving his start.
"It is an amazing feeling. Just the work I put in to come here and execute my race. We have been working on my start, and I was able to execute that today."

The European champion also noted that moving from bronze at the 2024 championships to gold was very meaningful for him.
"Upgrading from a bronze medal from 2024 is an amazing feeling."

Glave mentioned that Britain aimed for a clean sweep of medals but was happy with the one-two finish.
"That was the aim to get one, two, and three, but we got one, two, which is also amazing. Wasn’t really pressure mentally. 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."

When asked about Great Britain’s performance in the 100m, Glave said, "It is domination. Total domination."

Azu expressed his joy at finishing on the podium after a tough season.
"That was really nice. A tough year up and down."

He described it as the most inconsistent season for him.
"The most irregular [season] in terms of races; they are quite inconsistent. When it comes to championships, I know I find my best. We always say times are irrelevant at this point. You want to go out there and race for medals."

Azu felt he performed well in the final.
"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 competitive guys. So it is always tough."

He added that British sprinters had talked about the chance of sweeping the medals.
"We were always speaking about it that we were going one, two and three. We got one and two, so we did pretty well. Super important as GB sprinters, we have Europe in a choke hold."

Former Olympic and world long jump champion Greg Rutherford spoke on BBC One. He said British sprinters took advantage of Jacobs’ struggles during the race.
"We thought we had Marcell Jacobs back to some of his best running. It is not to be today. It has not gone well at all. The British boys have capitalised on that."

Former British 400m runner Allison Curbishley praised Azu’s start on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"What a silver medal! That was won right down there at the start. That was a phenomenal explosion out of the blocks. And he was able to back it up. He was able to hold his form."

Olympic 4x100m relay medallist Asha Philip also praised the British duo for handling the pressure in front of their home crowd.
"They were fantastic. They kept their composure and they were at a home championship, they utilised that crowd and they said: “yes, we’re going to come for this medal.”
"And, not only did they get one, they got two. Look how happy they are. I’m amazed. Honestly, I’m so happy for them."

Philip noted Glave’s focus during the race.
"I think those shades were the reason he won. He said: “I’m not looking left or right, I’m going to focus on me.” And he surely did."

She added, "You could see how strong he was. He was in so much control. Look at him, he’s so happy. That’s probably the most emotion I’ve seen out of this guy in a long time."

Britain’s one-two finish came after Hunt’s victory in the women’s 100m at the start of the championships. This gave Great Britain gold medals in both individual 100m events.

The results helped Great Britain reach the top of the medal table after two days of competition, with two golds and two silvers, according to World Athletics on Tuesday.