Rhys Williams (hurdler)

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.

"Rhys Williams (athlete)" redirects here. For other sportspeople with this name, see Rhys Williams (disambiguation).

Rhys Williams
Williams at the 2012 European Championships
Personal information
Born (1984-02-27) 27 February 1984
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportAthletics
Event(s)400m Hurdles
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
2012 Helsinki400 m hurdles
2006 Göteborg4 x 400 m
2010 Barcelona400 m hurdles
2006 Göteborg400 m hurdles
Representing  Wales
Commonwealth Games
2010 Delhi400 m hurdles

Early life

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.

Athletics career

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.

Injuries

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]

Doping violation

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]

Personal bests
DistanceTimeVenueDate
400m46.69sNewport25 May 13
400mH48.84sLuzern, SUI17 Jul 13

References
  1. "BBC SPORT | Olympics | Athletics | Injured Williams out of Olympics". BBC News. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  2. "BBC SPORT - Glasgow 2014: Rhys Williams suspended over doping violation charge". BBC News. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  3. "Rhys Williams and Gareth Warburton 'have served drug bans'". bbc.co.uk. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
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