Dai Greene wins gold in 400m hurdles for Great Britain at World Athletics Championships
There had been a nervous moment at the beginning when a false start was called but after considerable deliberation for the judges, none of the runners were singled out.
When finally away at the third attempt after another interruption, Culson paid the price for pushing hard too early and, though there were five in the hunt for the title coming off the final bend and Greene was a little concerned that he was not taking close enough order, he trusted in his strength to count.
He was still behind coming off the penultimate barrier with the South African having made a do or die front-running effort in the outside lane. Greene, who now adds the global crown to the European title he lifted last year and will now be one of Britain’s poster boys going into 2012, beamed afterwards: “I was disappointed that I was a little bit off the pace, but coming off the last hurdle I just had so much momentum. I just thought I can’t let this go, this is mine.”
When he brought home gold, one suspects it was an even better feeling than when he was a kid on Swansea City’s books and scored a goal against Real Madrid.
“I’ve just been working so hard for this for a number of years. I’ve had my lows but I always believed I could make it. Two years ago I had a bad experience at the world championships, finishing seventh in the final, so I had to dig deep here. I had to pull it out from somewhere. I’m just so pleased.
“I believed I could win. I’m quite good at dealing with the pressure. I’ve been quiet the last few days but I believe I can handle nerves better than others.”
Greene paid tribute to his coach Malcolm Arnold, the man who ironically helped end Hemery’s career by coaching John Akii-Bua, the man who beat him to Olympic gold in 1972. Four decades later, Arnold, the man behind Colin Jackson’s triumphs, is still producing global winners.
“I wouldn’t be as successful now if it wasn’t for him,” said Greene. “But also for Darrell Maynard, my first coach, and Benke Blomqvist, my other coach. They did a lot with me over the years when I was with them. They laid the base and Malcolm put the icing on the cake.”
“I’d like to think there’ll be a big reception in the village. We’ve been waiting for this gold all week. I saw Hannah England’s performance. I saw her running round with the flag and I was like ‘I’m going to get a piece of that action’. I was desperate to come away with the gold.”
Dai Greene wins gold in 400m hurdles for Great Britain at World Athletics Championships is a post from: My Sportz Football | It's All About Football
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