NOW that he has finally got his hands on a British vest, steeplechaser Ieuan Thomas can’t wait to make the most of a World Championships debut in London.

The 27-year-old from Pontypool was only drafted into the host country’s team for the event, which starts at the Olympic Stadium today, last week.

Thomas will be raring to go when he steps onto the track on Sunday morning, and he has every intention of pushing his body to its limits in a bid to make Tuesday night’s final.

On top of that, the Gwent star, who is trained by former Commonwealth Games 1500m runner James Thie, is eager to use his major championships bow as a “stepping stone”.

“I’ve been working for this all my life,” he said.

“All the kit came through a couple of days ago and it was pretty amazing to receive that.

“That GB vest is something I’ve wanted my whole career.

“I’ve always felt I was capable of it, and to finally get my hands on one is great.

“I hadn’t given up on it happening, I just thought that if it wasn’t this year then it could be the European Championships next year or after that.

“Now I’ve got there it’s a chance for me to push on, and I’m focused on the Commonwealth Games and Europeans in 2018.

“There’s also the Tokyo Olympics which aren’t that far away either.

“These World Championships really are a stepping stone for me.”

The Great Britain selectors gave Thomas the nod after he just missed out on attaining the qualifying ‘A’ standard.

He had made one last-ditch attempt to get the time he needed to virtually guarantee his spot and looked all set to do so at a league meeting in Bedford.

However, he came crashing to the ground after clipping a barrier on the final lap.

“I knew at that moment I wasn’t going to get the time so the first thing I wanted to do was assess the damage,” he added.

“I tore my quad muscle when I did the same thing in Loughborough last year and that put me out for a long time.

“I still won the race in Bedford and ran under nine minutes, so that showed what shape I was in.

“I think British Athletics could see I was capable of running the time I needed, and even though I didn’t get the time I’m still glad I ran the race.

“My knee was swollen for a few days after but I had some great treatment from Welsh Athletics and they helped me no end.

“Luckily for me there was no major damage and I was able to start training again.

“It hasn’t been the perfect build-up to London but I’m going to be running at the World Championships, so I couldn’t really ask for more.”

On his selection, he continued: “It feels amazing. When I got the call it was pretty surreal.

“I thought there was a small chance I’d get the call but I’d probably accepted I had just missed out.

“So when the call did come it was a bit of a shock.”

The IAAF World Championships start today and run until August 14.

There are a total of five Welsh athletes taking part with Thomas joined in the British squad by 110m hurdler David Omoregie, marathon runners Josh Davies and Andrew Davies and race walker Bethan Davies.