Great Britain Complete 100m Sprint Double as Romell Glave Strikes European Gold

By Dorcas Francis Koji

Great Britain completed a clean sweep of the individual 100m titles at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham after Romell Glave stormed to men’s gold at Alexander Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Glave clocked 10.09 seconds to claim the European title and lead a British one-two, with Jeremiah Azu taking silver. His victory came a day after Amy Hunt won the women’s 100m gold in 11.00 seconds, giving the hosts both individual sprint titles.

The result was particularly significant for Glave, who improved on the bronze medal he won at the 2024 European Championships.

“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,” Glave told BBC Sport.

“Upgrading from a bronze medal from 2024 is an amazing feeling.”

Great Britain had hoped to complete a medal clean sweep in the men’s 100m, but Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs was forced to pull up midway through the final, leaving the British pair to capitalise.

“That was the aim to get one, two, and three, but we got one-two, which is also amazing,” Glave said.

The champion revealed that his preparation had not been completely straightforward but said he was ready for the occasion.

“It 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.”

Summing up Britain’s sprinting dominance, Glave simply declared: “It is domination. Total domination.”

Azu, meanwhile, was delighted to finish on the podium after an inconsistent season.

“That was really nice. A tough year up and down,” he said.

“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.”

The silver medallist also believed he produced his best performance when it mattered most.

“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.”

Azu said the possibility of a British medal sweep had been discussed among the team before the race.

“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 said Britain’s sprinters took full advantage of Jacobs’ misfortune.

“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,” Rutherford said on BBC One.

Former British 400m runner Allison Curbishley also praised Azu’s explosive start, describing it as a key factor in his silver-medal performance.

“What a silver medal! That was won right down there at the start,” she said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Olympic 4x100m relay medallist Asha Philip praised both British sprinters for maintaining their composure in front of the 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.”

Philip also highlighted Glave’s ability to remain focused throughout 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.”

Glave’s victory, following Hunt’s triumph in the women’s 100m, means Great Britain now hold both individual sprint titles at the championships.

The impressive start to the competition has also lifted the hosts to the top of the medal table after two days, with Great Britain having won two gold and two silver medals, according to World Athletics.