Jeremiah Azu in Olympics 100m disaster as he’s escorted from track amid protest

Welshman Jeremiah Azu’s Olympic dream ended in unmitigated disaster after he was disqualified from the opening heat of the 100m competition in dramatic scenes.

The fastest man in Wales was adjudged to have false started on Saturday morning, with officials declining to listen to appeals. Azu initially refused to depart the track for several minutes, pleading his case to run under protest before eventually being escorted away.

The devastated runner, who is the fastest Welshman in history, claimed he heard a noise inside the stadium that he mistook for the starter’s gun.

He told the BBC: “Honestly, I reacted to a sound. It’s a shame, the crowd is so excited. I don’t know why they wouldn’t let me run under protest, I’m not sure what rules are being used .. They have said I have to go back and put an appeal in. I’m going to go through the process and see what happens.

“I was saying I wanted to run under protest. Any other race they allow you to run and then it is reviewed afterwards. I’m going to get back, get this appeal done as quickly as possible so hopefully I can get back out here and get into the semi-final.”

Azu’s official appeal was later declined and he is definitely out of the competition.

The 23-year-old is the only Welshman in history to run under 10 seconds, with a time of 9.97 seconds. He had high hopes of reaching the final on Sunday evening. He is set to be part of the 100m relay team next week.