Meet the Team GB dash sensation tipped for TWO gold medals at 2028 Olympics
Adam Gemili has backed Jeremiah Azu to become Olympic champion at LA 2028 with this summer providing the perfect springboard
Azu is from a devout Christian family and has spoken openly about his faith(Image: Michael Steele, Getty Images)
Adam Gemili believes there is nothing stopping Jeremiah Azu from becoming Olympic champion in 2028 and believes this summer can provide the perfect platform.
The Welsh sprinter, who won world indoor 60m gold last year, is set to compete in both the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham across July and August. Azu took European 100m bronze in 2022 and Gemili is hoping the 24-year-old can add a flurry of medals to his collection as he enters his peak years.
“This is where he should be looking at the summer and thinking these are his titles to win,” he said. “With two home championships, he’ll be licking his lips. These are the medals he’s got to start racking up.
“It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if he walked away with two gold medals this summer, which, fingers crossed, he does. I know if he doesn’t do what he knows he can do this summer, he’ll probably look back and think that was a big missed opportunity because the Commonwealths is a brilliant and prestigious title to win. I never won it, I only got silver in the 100 metres.
“The Europeans as well, especially in a Commonwealth and European year, are the biggest championships you can go to. He’ll be looking at that and thinking, ‘I’ve done it indoors, now it’s time to turn that indoor gold into outdoor gold.’ I really think he’ll do that.”
Paris 2024 marked Azu’s Olympic debut and he put aside the heartbreak of a false start in his 100m heat to win 4x100m relay bronze alongside Louie Hinchliffe, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Zharnel Hughes. Since the retirement of eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, the men’s 100m field has become more open and Gemili sees no reason why Azu couldn’t become the first British Olympic 100m gold medallist since Linford Christie.
“If Jeremiah does well this summer, it sets him up nicely for next season,” continued Gemili. “If you go into next year as Commonwealth and European champion, then you put yourself in really good stead for the World Championships. Then you look ahead to LA 2028. Why can’t he be on that podium? Why can’t he even win it? But you’ve got to walk before you can run, so he’s got to take this year first, but I’m really excited about what he can do.
“When I was competing, with Bolt being there, it was a given that if he was at his best, he was going to win. He was basically unbeatable. But now, I love the fact that you can go into a major championships or Olympic Games and have no idea who is going to win. I’d love Jeremiah to do something I couldn’t do, which is to emulate what Linford did, and make history.”
Gemili was speaking at the Deecon Consulting and Winged Boots Golf Day – raising money and awareness for the Ruth Strauss Foundation.
The charity supports families, particularly those with young children of where a parent is living with incurable cancer, helping them navigate difficult conversations and help them find the right words to tell their children so they can build understanding, connection and resilience together.
On Friday 5 June, Lord’s will once again be transformed into a sea of red as players, fans, and sponsors come together to raise vital funds for the Foundation and its work for the annual #RedforRuth Test match in memory of Ruth Strauss, the late wife of former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss and mother to two children, who passed away from a non-smoking related lung cancer aged just 46 in December 2018.
Gemili added: “I hope the Red For Ruth day at Lord’s can raise as much money as possible as this is such an important cause. The more we talk about it, the more we make it more public, the more people can help. I jumped at the opportunity to show my support for this foundation that does such brilliant work.”
For more information and ways you can support the Ruth Strauss Foundation at #RedforRuth at home or in-ground, visit https://ruthstraussfoundation.com/events/redforruth-2026/
