THE darling of Welsh athletics may have retired but man of the moment Tim Benjamin reckons he can carry on where Jamie Baulch left off.

The Gwent 400m runner retired earlier this week, but his young pretender Tim Benjamin is currently the man on everyone's lips.

And having been inspired by Baulch as a teenager, Benjamin hopes he can do likewise and encourage a new breed of Welsh athletes into the sport.

He said: "It is a real shame that I didn't race Jamie when he was at his peak as that is a race I'd love to have run in.

"He was someone I watched and admired when I was younger and was an inspiration for me when I was starting out in athletics.

"I used to watch him compete in Cardiff and I won't forget that. It is sad that he won't be in Melbourne but I'm glad that he still intends to travel over to Australia and that he is still going to be involved in Sport.

Benjamin added: "He was consistent when he was at his peak and that is something for me to aspire to and his medal collection speaks for itself.

"But we have some good young athletes coming through and hopefully I can take over Jamie's mantel and inspire a new crop of athletes to take up the sport."

Benjamin, who competes in Monday's Cardiff Centenary Games, is also eyeing up Iwan Thomas' 12-year British 400m record of 44.36 so that he can truly call himself Wales' fastest ever 400m runner.

He said: "Running sub 45secs was a big step for me, but now that I've done it a few times I want to keep on doing it consistently.

"I want to target the record but I don't want to limit myself to running that time.

"It would be great to run 44.2 or 44.3 and beat it, but I don't want to get to carried away by it.

"I want to set my standards high and if I can run 44.7 in an injury hit season then you never know what I can achieve."

Despite his progress Benjamin has still to win a medal at a major championships, coming fifth at the World Championships in Helsinki earlier this month.

And he knows that next year will be a big year for him if he can stay injury free over the winter.

He said: "I just want a rest and an injury free winter and lets see what I can go and do in Melbourne.

"I reckon I have a good chance of a medal in the 400m and our relay team has to be up there as a gold medal contender."