Dai Greene secures his Olympic berth in Birmingham (© Getty Images)
Dai Greene, Britain’s 400m hurdles World champion, will take on some of his leading challengers for Olympic gold as he rounds off his pre-Games race schedule at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Friday 13 July.
The Swansea Harrier will go head-to-head with American former World champion and Olympic bronze medallist Bershawn Jackson, and Javier Culson, the Puerto Rican man who Greene overtook in the final 30 metres at last year’s World Championships to take gold. Culson is currently the fastest man in the world this year, however.
Fully focused on ensuring that he hits top form when it matters most this summer, Greene is looking to become the first British athlete since Jonathan Edwards to have held World, European, Commonwealth and Olympic titles in his career. A strong showing at last weekend’s Aviva 2012 Trials was evidence that Greene is back on form, and he will use London’s two-day Samsung Diamond League meeting as a litmus test ahead of the Games this summer.
"The Aviva London Grand Prix will be an important final step in my preparation for the Olympic Games. I’m still working my way towards peaking at the right time this summer and Crystal Palace will be another good examination of where I’m at."
The Welshman has had an up and down start to the Olympic year, having been forced to deal with knee surgery over winter and an an illness that forced him to withdraw from Rome’s Samsung Diamond League event last month, hours before the starting gun.
The 26-year-old’s appetite for racing on the world’s premier athletics circuit has not diminished, however. Despite having been defeated by an impressive Culson in their only meeting this year in Oslo, he is relishing the resumption of his tussle with world-class opponents at Crystal Palace ahead of their fight for top spot at London 2012.
"I enjoy the intensity of the Diamond League meetings. With athletes like Javier and Bershawn in the mix at Palace, I’ll be given a stern test. Hopefully I’ll be taking on these guys again in the Olympic final three weeks later, so I’m expecting us to put on a good battle for the packed house."
Organisers for the IAAF
The Swansea Harrier will go head-to-head with American former World champion and Olympic bronze medallist Bershawn Jackson, and Javier Culson, the Puerto Rican man who Greene overtook in the final 30 metres at last year’s World Championships to take gold. Culson is currently the fastest man in the world this year, however.
Fully focused on ensuring that he hits top form when it matters most this summer, Greene is looking to become the first British athlete since Jonathan Edwards to have held World, European, Commonwealth and Olympic titles in his career. A strong showing at last weekend’s Aviva 2012 Trials was evidence that Greene is back on form, and he will use London’s two-day Samsung Diamond League meeting as a litmus test ahead of the Games this summer.
"The Aviva London Grand Prix will be an important final step in my preparation for the Olympic Games. I’m still working my way towards peaking at the right time this summer and Crystal Palace will be another good examination of where I’m at."
The Welshman has had an up and down start to the Olympic year, having been forced to deal with knee surgery over winter and an an illness that forced him to withdraw from Rome’s Samsung Diamond League event last month, hours before the starting gun.
The 26-year-old’s appetite for racing on the world’s premier athletics circuit has not diminished, however. Despite having been defeated by an impressive Culson in their only meeting this year in Oslo, he is relishing the resumption of his tussle with world-class opponents at Crystal Palace ahead of their fight for top spot at London 2012.
"I enjoy the intensity of the Diamond League meetings. With athletes like Javier and Bershawn in the mix at Palace, I’ll be given a stern test. Hopefully I’ll be taking on these guys again in the Olympic final three weeks later, so I’m expecting us to put on a good battle for the packed house."
Organisers for the IAAF
