Paris Olympics 2024: 'Absolute heartbreak' as Team GB's Jeremiah Azu disqualified from heats after false start

Jeremiah Azu's solid preparations for the men's 100m event were ultimatey in vain after the 23-year-old was removed from the opening heat due to a false start in round one. Azu is the first Welsh sprinter at an Olympic Games in 50 years, but he was brandished a red card for coming out of the blocks 0.07s too quickly. The sprinter protested his innocence to no avail.

‘The equipment rarely lies’ – Azu protests fall flat as Team GB star DQ’d from 100m

Video credit: TNT Sports

Jeremiah Azu, Wales' fastest man, had his men's 100m dreams crushed after a false start put pay to solid preparations for the blockbuster Olympic event.

Azu, who came second in the men’s 100m at the UK Athletics Championships, told Eurosport "there's a lot of crowd noise" in the Stade de France, and said he was set off by a reaction to other events occuring concurrently in front of the bustling crowd.

"I mean I'm feeling great so it's a shame," he said. "There's a lot of crowd noise, the pole vault's going on, I reacted to a sound and they're saying I can't run under protest so I'm going to go back to the team and hopefully we can sort it out. They said maybe I can run by myself after.

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"It's an Olympic crowd they're all so excited, I dont fault them. We're on the start line and someone's reacted to something else going on and it's set me off so I'm going to see what happens now."

Azu protested his innocence for over three minutes, spending much of the time disputing the call while reviewing the false start on a track-side monitor.

But the officials stood firm in their decision to immediately dismiss the British sprinter.

It looked at one point as though Azu would then run under protest, but he was soon whisked off the track.

'It's a shame, I reacted to a sound' - Azu left frustrated by false start disqualification in 100m

Video credit: TNT Sports

Eurosport commentator Chris Dennis decribed the false start as "absolute heartbreak for British track and field fans".

Azu was judged to have taken off 0.07 too early.

Eurosport commentator Tim Hutchings added: "He will be livid with himself for that. Obviously he felt he started OK but if it was 0.07 then that's not even close to being legal so I suspect it was just a false start, nothing more, nothing less."

Earlier on Saturday, Mozambique's Steven Sabino was also sent off the track for a false start. There were a couple of occasions which could have been deemed false starts on Friday in the women's 100m heats, but only warnings were issued.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

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