Dai Greene at the 2010 European Athletics Championships |
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | David Greene | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Welsh, British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 April 1986 [1] Felinfoel, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
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| Residence | Bath, Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain Wales |
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| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 400 m, 400 m hurdles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Swansea Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) |
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Medal record
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David "Dai" Greene (born 11 April 1986) is a Welsh hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles event and competes internationally for both Wales and Great Britain.
He is the second fastest British man over the 400 m hurdles, behind the British record holder, Kriss Akabusi. Greene is the current European, Commonwealth and World Champion.
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Born in Felinfoel near Llanelli,[2] Greene showed an aptitude for sport while attending Pen-y-gaer primary school.[3] Inspired to follow his hero Ryan Giggs, he began practising football skills with his left foot.[4] Resultantly, aged 13 while attending Coedcae comprehensive school, he joined the youth team set-up at Swansea City, playing left wing, and once scored a penalty against a Real Madrid youth side. Turning down a contract to turn professional as a footballer aged 16,[4] he continued his studies while still playing youth football for Swansea. After contracting Osgood-Schlatter disease during a growth spurt, he resultantly decided to give up football in his late teens for athletics, and he still runs to this day for Swansea Harriers Athletics Club. Aged 17, Greene was diagnosed with epilepsy, and continues to manage the condition today by avoiding late nights and alcohol, the main diagnosed triggers of his seizures.[1]
Moving to Cardiff to be coached by Benke Blomqvist, Greene had his first success on the junior athletics circuit in 2005. He won the silver medal at the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships, finishing with a personal best time of 51.14 seconds. The following year he competed in his first senior tournament, the 2006 European Athletics Championships, but he failed to progress beyond the heats with a run of 50.66 seconds.[5] His junior success continued, however, as he won the gold medal at the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships with a new best of 49.58 seconds. He beat Frenchman Fadil Bellaabouss by a narrow margin to mark an impressive return, following an ankle injury which had ruled him out for six weeks of the season.[6]
After his coach Blomqvist decided to return to Sweden for family reasons, from 2009 Greene relocated to University of Bath, to allow him to train under coach Malcolm Arnold,[7] supported by the Wells Sports Foundation.[8] He was later joined by fellow Welsh 400m hurdler Rhys Williams, who is now his training partner.
The 2009 outdoor season saw Greene making his first impact on the senior circuit. In June he set a meet record and a new personal best of 48.62 seconds to win the 400 m hurdles at the Josef Odlozil Memorial in Prague. This was a significant improvement from his 2008 best of 49.58 seconds and made him top of the European rankings for the first time.[9] Competing for Team GB at the 2009 World Championships, Greene won his heat with a strong first round performance of 48.76 seconds. He followed this with a new personal best in the semi-finals, finishing in 48.27 seconds to take second place behind Bershawn Jackson.[10] He finished 7th in the final of the men's 400 m hurdles, and received a silver medal for the 4x400 m relay, despite only running in the semi-final, being replaced in the final by Michael Bingham.
On 31 July 2010, he won the Gold Medal in the 400m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, with fellow Welshman Rhys Williams getting the silver.[11] On 10 October 2010, Greene won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.[12]
On 1 September 2011, at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Greene won the gold medal, overtaking a strong field in the final straight.[8]
| Event | Best | Location | Date |
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| 400 metres | 45.82 s | Birmingham, England | 31 Jul 11 |
| 400 metres hurdles | 47.88 s | Zagreb, Croatia | 4 Sep 10 |
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