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FOLLOWING his Welsh 400m hurdles record when he narrowly missed out on a medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Rhys Williams has been elevated to the World Class Performance Pathway by UK Athletics.
Williams' stunning fourth place in Melbourne persuaded UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins that the 22-year-old was ready to make the leap from the Sports Council for Wales' lottery funded Elite Cymru scheme and join Tim Benjamin in the top echelon.
"This is a massive boost to my career," said Williams, who trains and studies at Loughbrough University. "I will have access to the best medical and physio support possible who will be able to concentrate on keeping me fit and healthy while I concentrate on getting faster over the hurdles.
"I'm extremely grateful to the support I've had from the Elite Cymru scheme and the Sports Council for Wales. They've managed to keep me in one piece to achieve all that I have up until now and I couldn't have done it without them. I've got a big hunger for athletics and I can't wait to go on to bigger and better things."
 Williams, son of Wales rugby legend JJ, lowered his best time for the 400m hurdles to 49.09 seconds, beating Matt Elias' previous record of 49.10, set at the Manchester Games four years ago when the Cardiff athlete claimed silver.
It was Williams' third personal best in as many days, after he ran 49.52 in the opening round and then lowering it to 49.17 in his semi-final.
"I have run a personal best again, but I am definitely not content and want to go better," he said. "I want to try and be the best in Britain consistently and I've already got an eye on the European Championships in the summer."
But there was a disappointing end to the Games for Williams, when the Welsh 400m relay team was forced to withdraw from the event.
The silver medallists from Manchester 2002 were beset by problems in the build-up to the Games, losing British No 1 Benjamin and former Commonwealth and European champion Iwan Thomas before arriving in Melbourne.
Then sprinter Christian Malcolm - who had been expected to join the team - pulled up with hamstring trouble and Elias collapsed after his 400m hurdles semi-final.
Though Elias had recovered to take his place in the team, Wales' bare four-man squad was reduced to three when Williams was ruled out by a minor hamstring tear, sustained during his record-breaking run.
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