• World Athletics Championships

Rest of the season 'just a dress rehearsal' - Greene

Dai Greene wants to add a world title to his European and Commonwealth crowns © Getty Images

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• Profile: Dai Greene

Dai Greene insists past results count for nothing when he takes his place on the start line at the World Athletics Championships in South Korea next week.

Despite recording only the sixth-fastest 400m hurdles time in the world this year, the European and Commonwealth champion insists all his training has been geared towards Daegu and is confident he can produce the goods on the big stage.

"Anything up until this point is just a dress rehearsal," Greene told The Guardian. "I want to do well in the grand prix races but the only thing that matters is the majors. That's when I tend to thrive, in the one competition that matters most."

With American pair Angelo Taylor and Bershawn Jackson and South African world No. 1 Louis van Zyl all clocking faster times in 2011, Greene knows he faces a real fight for a medal in South Korea.

"I know that there are a few of us who are very close on paper, and I could get beaten by anyone on the day,' he said."But this is what I have been training for all year."

Greene has Kris Akabusi's British record firmly in his sights. His own personal best of 47.88 seconds is only six hundredths of a second short of Akabusi's milestone, and that record may tumble in Korea. But it is another British hurdler, David Hemery, who has inspired Greene. The Welshman revealed he has been reading Hemery's autobiography Another Hurdle, and he is desperate to emulate the success of the 1968 Olympic champion.

"I've got a great insight into his feelings at the time, and what he achieved during his era was superb," Greene said. "He really raised the bar at the time. It'd be incredible to emulate him and beat the best guys in the world."

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