Bulli's Ryan Gregson has announced himself as a genuine Commonwealth Games medal contender by shattering the long-standing Australian 1500m record in Monaco yesterday.Competing in the prestigious IAAF Diamond League against the world's best milers, Gregson clocked 3min31.06sec to slice nearly a second off the previous Australian best.Gregson was fifth in the race, with Kenya's Silas Kiplagat winning in 3:29.27 from Moroccan Amine Laalou and Augustine Choge (Kenya) third.The first five runners across the line beat the quickest time so far this year and Kiplagat's winning time was the 10th fastest ever.Gregson's Albion Park coach Ian Hatfield said the 20-year-old showed he is ready to compete against the strong Kenyan contingent at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this October."This will give Ryan an enormous lift in confidence," said Hatfield, who has coached Gregson for more than a decade."Ryan wasn't fazed by the company he was running in and that was a world-class field. It was the equivalent of an Olympic final."To me he is a medal chance in Delhi. His confidence will now be sky high and I think he will believe he will be among the contenders."Choge set a blistering pace, with Gregson settling mid-field and running home strongly to beat his previous personal best by more than four seconds. He was elated after the run, which showed great tactical nous."It hasn't really sunk in yet," he said."When you run your PBs you don't feel it. Tonight didn't feel that hard, that's what's good about the fast times."I got out pretty well with a great spot on the rail. My advisor and manager Nic Bideau said to get out hard early and if you see a gap, move up and don't let any gaps open up."With a lap to go Gregson knew he had the opportunity to record a fast time."That was the only time I looked at the clock and I thought, 'sheez'," he told Inside Athletics."Before the race I was looking for a 2:38 at the bell to then put in a 56-second last lap for a 3:34. When I ran past (the bell) and it was 2:34 I thought, 'if I run 56 seconds for the last lap I'll run 3:30'."The old Australian record of 3:31.96 was set by former world No 1 Simon Doyle in 1991.Gregson now becomes the holder of the under 18 (3:43.84, 2007), under 20 (3:37.24, 2009) and senior Australian 1500m records.Family and friends watched the race live on television, with mum Sue blown away by her son's achievement."It's only his first year as a senior," she said."There's a lot of pressure on him, he'll probably be one of the favourites at the Commonwealth Games. He is only 20 but he likes the pressure and he handles the expectation well."