Conrad Williams believes Great Britain's 4x400metre relay squad will have a strong chance of winning a medal in Daegu.
British 400m runner feels the team will come good when it matter
Conrad Williams believes Great Britain's 4x400metre relay squad will have a strong chance of winning a medal at this summer's World Championships in Daegu despite their below-par individual displays this year.
No British athlete has managed the 'A' qualifying standard of 45.25 seconds for the men's 400m while recently UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee singled it out as an event that had worried him this year.
Beijing Olympic finalist Martyn Rooney won the UK Trials and Championships in Birmingham at the weekend but was unhappy with his time of 45.44 while European silver medallist Michael Bingham, who is the quickest one-lap runner in Britain in 2011, didn't even reach the final.
Nevertheless, Bingham is still a virtual certainty to be in the six-man relay squad along with Rooney while 400m hurdles star Dai Greene is also expected to be included having finished a highly creditable third on the flat at the trials.
Williams made a surprise exit in the heats and now he's left to sweat on one of the remaining three places with the likes of Richard Buck, Chris Clarke, Nigel Levine, Andrew Steele, Richard Strachan and Rob Tobin.
The 29-year-old, who was a part of the quartet which won silver medals at the 2009 worlds and last year's Europeans, said: "It will be a strong six whoever they pick. We're not at our best at the moment but we're still better than most.
"A lot of our athletes have got their times into the 45s this year and not many other countries can really say that.
"Whatever team we have will go out there and perform to their best and hopefully we'll have a good chance of defending the silver medal we won in 2009.
"America will obviously have a strongest team and be the ones to beat while we must look out for the Bahamas, Belgium, Russia and France because they'll also be dangerous.
"It's definitely going to be tough trying to defend that silver but the team we put out will be good enough to challenge.
"Dai Greene showed he can definitely run the flat 400m this time. He's improving a lot, running in the 45s twice over the weekend. He has been part of the squad before but just hasn't been able to run in the final team.
"He'll step up although he'll obviously have his own individual event to worry about and have a lot more races in his legs. Going through three rounds in the hurdles and then the final as well as all the emotions from that might work against him.
"But he'll also have the adrenaline to keep him going and I'm sure he'll want to be a part of the team."
Olympic fears
Williams has been disappointed with his performances this year and admits the pressure is bound to increase as the Olympic gets closer.
He said: "There are a lot of worries about making the Olympics. Athletics is such an individual sport - even in the relays there's a battle to be selected and it's only a few times a year when you're part of that team.
"So you're on your own for the majority of the year and the pressure is on to make sure you're remembered for being part of the Olympics.
"It's going to be tough to beat or get beaten to a spot by people you usually train with and athletes you know well. The pressure is really on the athletes to make sure they're racing well at the right time.
"The Olympics are always in the back of your mind. No matter where you go or what you're doing, you're always talking about because it's such a big thing.
"You can't ignore it because it's such a huge sporting event just once every four years and this is the whole reason we're in the sport - to be part of the world championships and the Olympics.
"The Olympics is where we all want to be in our careers so if you do forget about it then you probably don't really want to be an athlete."
Conrad Williams is a Mitchum sponsored UKA athlete. The Mitchum anti-perspirant and deodorant range for men and women is available nationwide www.mitchum.co.uk
