Taking the world title in Korea, Team GB athletics star Dai Greene stormed the 400m men’s hurdles and claimed the gold medal. He talks to Kirsten Corrigan about where he keeps his stash of sporting bling and why he won’t be wearing Lycra to the supermarket any longer
You came home to a hero's welcome at the weekend and were propelled into the spotlight as the new World Champion. So how does it feel to be a celeb?
It’s starting to become more of a reality because I’m more in demand… people do seem to be recognising me more. I’ve also watched my race back now with English commentary which is always nice. It’s starting to sink in now, what I’ve achieved.
I don’t think it’s got so bad yet that I need to wear sunglasses or a disguise, but I’ll have to be careful not to wear too much sporty stuff and be a bit more casual, keep my head down a bit. I’ve had people staring at me for a bit longer than usual! I can’t wear my Lycra shorts any more while I’m out!
Is there an MTV Cribs-style medal cabinet back at home or do you keep your medals somewhere a touch more modest?
I wish it was like that! I haven’t long moved in to my house and all my medals are randomly placed around the house wherever I pick them up and plonk them back down. I’ll have to get something sorted to store them in and I’d like to keep them on display as they represent all the hard work I’ve put in. But at the moment, no, it’s nothing like MTV Cribs…
'I can’t wear my Lycra shorts any more while I’m out!'
Are you divided in your loyalty between Wales and running for Team GB?
I’m happy in either team to be honest and as I’m running really well at the moment I think both sides are happy to claim me! If I wasn’t running very well then I think I’d be called more Welsh than British! I love running for both and I get loads of support, it doesn’t matter which vest I have on. I live in England now but I am a Welsh boy at heart.
After the stunning victory in the hurdles, you made the call to sit out the relay event. What happened?
I was very physically tired – mentally I was fine but I felt absolutely shattered after two races in four days. I felt I couldn’t do the team justice if I ran. The other guys hadn’t run anywhere near as much as me and I thought they would be in better condition than me to represent GB. I’m very professional and that’s what you have to do as an athlete – make a tough call. It wasn’t an easy decision to make but I felt it was the right one.
Hurdles vs relay – what are the skills needed for each and is it easy to be good at both?
They are really very different events but over similar distances. There’s the technical side with the hurdles where you have 150 strides that have to be spot on – maybe you don’t understand that side of things when you’re watching at home. The training is very similar and you have to have a certain amount of speed and endurance for both events. Sometimes hurdlers make good relay runners and you can enjoy running without the hurdles – you can go a bit faster and it should be easier not having to jump over ten barriers. It’s a stroll compared to the hurdles.
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How does having former athlete Jamie Baulch as your manager help your progress?
I don’t need too much advice but he’s like a fan and follows me around everywhere! He loves being involved and he’s been there before so it’s great having him in my corner. I want to be involved with someone who cares about my performances and he’s living every moment out there on the track with me. It shows that he cares.
You’ve still to smash Kriss Akabusi’s 47.82 record but he was the first to congratulate you on Twitter, saying ‘records can be broken but titles last forever’. Do you agree?
I’d rather get the gold medal but no I haven’t broken Kriss Akabusi’s record yet. No one can take that away from me though… I’ll always be the 2011 World Champion.
So now it’s the final big push for London 2012. What’s going through your mind about what lies ahead?
I’ve won every other competition apart from that and it’s going to be the biggest competition of my career to date. I’ll be the right age for it and I’ll have all the home support. I can’t wait to start training for it and really look forward to being out on the track next year in front of the crowd in London.
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