 Williams at the 2012 European Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 February 1984 |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 400m Hurdles |
Medal record | |
Rhys Williams (born 27 February 1984), is a Welsh professional track and field athlete, specializing in the 400 m hurdles. He is a previous European champion in the event.
Williams was born in Bridgend, the son of former Welsh international rugby union player J.J. Williams. Rhys studied at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari from September 1995 until June 2002. He was a member of the Bridgend and District D.C. Thomas winning rugby side at the age of 11 and was also the Welsh U15 backstroke swimming champion. He is currently studying for a master's degree at the University of Glamorgan.[ when? ]
Williams won the 400 m hurdles at the 2005 European U23 Championships, was European Junior Champion in 2003, and won the European Youth Olympics in 2001.
On 10 August 2006, Williams won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg in a time of 49.12 seconds, thus just slightly missing his personal best (49.09, set at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where he finished fourth). He also ran 48.3 over the 400 m (2002).
On 13 August 2006 at that same event, he won a silver medal in the 4x400 m relay as the second sprinter, along with Robert Tobin, Graham Hedman and Timothy Benjamin, in a time of 3:01.63.
On 31 July 2010, he achieved the Silver Medal in the 400 m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, with fellow Welshman Dai Greene winning Gold.
On 17 June 2008 it was announced that he would miss the 2008 Olympics due to a stress fracture to his right foot. He suffered the injury while taking part in the Welsh Championships two days earlier, which was the first time he had competed since suffering a similar injury a year earlier. [1]
On 25 July 2014, on the second day of the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he was co-captain of the Welsh team, it was announced that he was suspended from all competition because of a doping violation at the Glasgow Grand Prix on 11 July. [2] In January 2015 UK Anti-Doping gave Williams a four-month suspension, whilst accepting that Williams' positive test was due to taking a contaminated supplement and that he had not knowingly cheated. As Williams had already been suspended for more than six months the decision meant that he was free to compete again. [3]
| Distance | Time | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400m | 46.69s | Newport | 25 May 13 |
| 400mH | 48.84s | Luzern, SUI | 17 Jul 13 |
Colin Ray Jackson, is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion twice, world indoor champion once, was undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and was twice Commonwealth champion. His world record of 12.91 seconds for the 110 m hurdles stood for over 10 years and his 60 metres hurdles world record stood for nearly 27 years.
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Wales competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Prior to the games the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales set itself a target of 27 medals, surpassing the 2010 total of 20 medals won in Delhi. After the withdrawal of World champion competitors Helen Jenkins, Non Stanford and Becky James, Chef de Mission Brian Davies conceded that the initial target was optimistic, but the target was actually attained by 30 July, the sixth day of the competition. Wales finished 13th in the overall medal table, but joint 8th, with Nigeria, in terms of the total medals won.
European Athletics Championships champions in men's 400 metres hurdles | |
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| Authority control: People |
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