PA Sport's Phil Casey picks William Sharman as the athlete to watch in 2010.

Labelling someone a rising star when they have already finished fourth in the World Championships may seem unusual, but then again there is nothing 'usual' about William Sharman.

A classical pianist, Sharman has a BA in economics, an MSc in banking and finance and even worked as a timekeeper on TV show Gladiators.

With so many strings to his bow, perhaps it should come as no surprise the 25-year-old only enjoyed his breakthrough season in 2009 with that fourth place in the 110m hurdles in Berlin, just 0.15 seconds away from a medal.

As Britain celebrated a total of six medals in the Olympic Stadium - two of each colour and the most since seven were claimed in Seville in 1999 - and the world again delighted in the amazing feats of Usain Bolt, it was easy to overlook the performance of Sharman, who almost did not even make it to Berlin.

His name was absent when the British team was announced on July 28 but was a late addition after he recorded a lifetime best of 13.44 seconds at a meeting in Loughborough.

That helped him move up from 103rd in the world rankings at the start of the year to 31st by Berlin, still seemingly a long way off making the final, never mind threatening to win Britain's first medal in the event since the second of Colin Jackson's golds in 1999.

But, after coming safely through his heat, Sharman produced two personal bests to confirm his potential in emphatic fashion.

He clocked 13.38sec to win his semi-final and 13.30 in the final, although it was not quite enough to keep pace with the leading trio, who were separated by only 0.01 in a blanket finish.

That he could improve on his semi-final performance in the final was always a distinct possibility, especially considering he had eased up across the line and wagged his finger to the camera in a cheeky display of bravado.

It could easily have been viewed as arrogance and something to come back and haunt him, but Sharman was simply enjoying the ride and following the example of Bolt, who is the epitome of relaxation until the gun goes off.

"In the semi-final I pranced about a bit and still won so, looking at the statistics, I thought, 'I am in with a shout here'," Sharman said.

"I didn't put pressure on myself because I was rational. I love what I do and it gives me a buzz, and what gives me a bigger buzz is seeing athletes like Usain Bolt out there as though he's in a nightclub when he's on the start line.

"As long as you are tuned in with a clear head when the starter says 'set', that's fine. People know I'm a bit of an entertainer and it works for me. Ask me to be serious on the start line and I would probably run rubbish."

However, serious is what Sharman can now afford to be about his athletics.

Before Berlin he had "kind of written off" next year's European Championships in Barcelona and Commonwealth Games in Delhi and was planning to get a job, but now he has full Lottery funding and can afford to train full time.

He added: "Who knows how fast I can go? But I know where my improvements are to come from because I've had experts look at my race and I've got a good support team behind me and a very good coach.

"So next year is looking bright."