at 2010 European Touch Championships. 9 July 2010

Jamie Baulch has turned to rugby star Shane Williams for advice as he prepares to represent Wales in the 2010 European Touch Rugby Championship at the end of July.

Jamie retired from athletics five years ago but has taken on the challenge to compete on the rugby field to raise his fitness levels. He has been training with the Welsh squad and will be playing in the European Touch championships, that take place in Bristol from 22 to 25 July, in the over 35s team.

Jamie, who now heads up sports management agency Definitive, said: “People recognise me in the street because they know my face and when they do I don’t want them to think that I’ve let myself go, I want them to see that I’m still fit and achieving things!

“At Definitive, I’m representing up-and-coming sports people as well as established stars such as Shane Williams and David Roberts. Shane thought it was very funny when I told him about this. I suppose it would be like him saying he was going to take up running, it’s completely different to anything I’ve done before. He’s giving me some good tips about what he recommends I can do to train and you never know, I might persuade him to start running when he retires from rugby!”

“Since I’ve been with Definitive, working with so many very fit and talented sports stars has made me hungry to up my game again. I’m back in the gym twice a day and getting back into good shape, I’m almost as strong as I used to be and hopefully in a couple of months I’ll be as fit as I once was.

“Playing touch rugby came about because one of my colleagues has been playing for a few years and he invited me to train with him. I used to play a lot of rugby in school and college which I loved and I was pretty good at – if I hadn’t been an athlete then who knows, I may have been a rugby player! However, I’ve not played touch rugby before, and it’s very different. The pitch is smaller and there are six players on each side. There’s also lots of running around so it’s good for your fitness. I wanted to get back into sport and get fit again and I’m really enjoying it.

“I’ve got a good understanding of the game now and have been thrown in the deep end to a certain degree. It’s been a bit of a challenge as I’m not just learning the game but getting fit at the same time but I want to do this properly.”