Jeremiah Azu Misses World 60m Bronze by a Hundredth of a Second in Torun Heartbreaker

So Close You Could Measure the Gap With a Ruler

There are margins of defeat that sting, and then there is what happened to Jeremiah Azu in Torun on Thursday evening. The Welsh sprinter, defending his world indoor 60m title, finished fourth in the final at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland, missing a bronze medal by precisely one hundredth of a second. That is roughly the time it takes to blink. Actually, scratch that. Blinking takes longer.

Azu crossed the line in 6.46 seconds, just 0.01 behind Trayvon Bromell of the USA, who himself only pipped Jamaica's Kishane Thompson for bronze by a thousandth of a second (6.448 to 6.447 for Thompson's silver, 6.448 for Bromell's bronze). If you think that sounds absurdly tight, you would be right. The top four were separated by five hundredths of a second. A photo finish does not even begin to cover it.

Anthony Storms to Gold

The man who left everybody trailing was American Jordan Anthony, who blasted to gold in a world-leading 6.41 seconds. That time is the joint-fourth-fastest 60m in history, which is rather handy for a bloke who was playing wide receiver at the University of Arkansas not so long ago. Anthony, a training partner of Noah Lyles, turned professional just nine months before winning the world title. Some career pivots work out better than others.

A Tale of Two Races for Azu

The cruel irony is that Azu actually ran faster in the semi-final than in the final. His 6.45 in the semis was a personal best, a new Welsh record, and the second-fastest 60m ever recorded by a British sprinter. Only Dwain Chambers has gone quicker indoors, with his 6.42 from way back in March 2009. Azu was knocking on that door.

So what went wrong in the final? The numbers tell a story. Azu's reaction time off the blocks was 0.144 seconds, compared to Anthony's 0.127. That gap of 0.017 seconds at the start is bigger than the 0.01 that separated him from a medal at the finish. In a race this short, where the gun fires and it is all over before most people have found their seat, getting out cleanly is everything.

No Disgrace in Fourth

Let us be clear: finishing fourth at a World Championships while running 6.46 is not a failure. It just feels like one when you were the defending champion and a medal was right there. Azu took it with the sort of grace you would hope for.

"It's a tough one to take, but I am proud that I came and tried to defend my title. That's track and field. You live and you learn and you get better."

He is not wrong. Azu is still only in his mid-twenties, still improving, and still very much in the conversation when the world's fastest men line up. A Welsh record and a world final in the same evening is nothing to sniff at.

The Bigger Picture

For British sprinting, the signs are encouraging. Chambers' long-standing indoor record of 6.42 suddenly looks vulnerable. Azu has gone from 6.55 in the heats to 6.45 in the semis in the space of a few hours. That trajectory, if it continues through the outdoor season, could make him a genuine contender when things really matter later this year.

For now, though, he will have to live with being the fastest man in Torun without a medal. Fourth place. One hundredth of a second. Sport can be gloriously, agonisingly unfair sometimes.

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