British athlete hit with warning after breaking strict World Championship clothing rule

Great Britain sprinter Jeremiah Azu has been warned over a headband he wore at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

The Welsh speedster wore the headgear - which had '100% Jesus' written on it - as he finished in fourth place in the men's 100m semi-finals on Sunday. While that result meant he narrowly missed out on a spot in the final, Azu is set to compete in the 4x100m relay event on Saturday.

However, World Athletics has taken the opportunity to 'remind' the 24-year-old about their stance on athletes marketing religious or political messages during competitions.

Under the governing body's rules, the marketing of such slogans is prohibited at competitive events. In a statement, World Athletics said they were aware of Azu's personalised headgear and said the Great Britain team will be reminded of the "regulations and consequences" ahead of the weekend.

"We are aware of the headband," the statement read. "As he [Azu] may compete in the relay, we will remind the team ahead of competition of our regulations and of consequences."

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Azu - who is the first Welsh athlete to run the 100m in under 10 seconds - comes from a devout Christian family, with his father Alex a church pastor in Cardiff. The sprinter has spoken openly about his faith, crediting it with providing him an edge and focus that he feels some rivals cannot match.

"When I'm on that start line, I feel I am not doing this just for me, or on my own, but there is a higher power behind me," he previously told Sport Wales. "Whether things go right or wrong for me, it feels OK, and I am able to carry on because I know I am doing God's work. For me, I want to spread the gospel. The faster I run, the more people I can reach."

Speaking to the Church Times in 2022, Azu revealed he enjoys singing in church and explained how it creates a 'one-to-one connection' between him and God. Drawing parallels between singing and athletics, he said: "There are eight of us: three singers, a drummer, two guitarists, and a keyboard player.

"We sing a mixture of traditional praise and African worship songs, and mix it in with British, American, and European songs. I've sung for as long as I can remember. I also feel free when I sing: it's a similar feeling to when I am running. When I'm singing, I feel like I am having a really big one-to-one connection with God."

Earlier this year, Azu said: "I've seen every aspect of the church. My dad's determination for what he believes has pushed me to go on. Because he's never given up no matter how bad it's looked. I've seen how many people he's helped and housed.

"That kind of inspiration has allowed me to continue to push on where things aren't looking great in my own life. I'm not going to do athletics forever. So, it's not like I'm going to miss every Sunday for the rest of my life."

Azu isn't the first athlete to find himself in trouble over a religious message, with Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi also facing criticism earlier this year for writing 'I love Jesus' across his rainbow captain's armband, which was designed to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion in football.

Guehi - whose father is a minister - was later approached by the Football Association and informed that displaying religious messages on kits, boots or other equipment, including armbands, breaches the governing body's regulations. Nevertheless, he avoided any additional sanctions.

Defending his actions, the Palace captain explained: "The message was just a message of truth and love and inclusivity to be honest. I don't think the message was harmful in any way - that's all I can really say about that to be honest."

Another footballer, Brazilian star Neymar, previously sported the same '100% Jesus' headband as Azu's when he received his gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The previous year,he had been spotted wearing it whilst celebrating with his Barcelona teammates following their Champions League final triumph.

In response, FIFA decided to obscure the message during a highlights reel of Neymar shown at the 2016 Ballon D'or ceremony. His actions at the Olympics, meanwhile, prompted officials to issue a warning to all competitors "not to demonstrate political, religious or racial propaganda' at the Tokyo Games in 2021.