• London Olympics 2012

Greene handed Team GB captaincy

ESPN staff
July 9, 2012
Dai Greene will captain Team GB's athletics squad © Getty Images
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World champion hurdler Dai Greene has been chosen to captain the Team GB athletics team at London 2012.

Greene, who was also captain of the squad when he won the 400m hurdles at the European Championships last year, was handed the honour by UK Athletics chief Charles van Commenee.

"It is an incredible privilege to be asked to captain the British athletics team at any time, but to be given the honour at a home Olympic Games is just incredible," Greene said. "We have a great team spirit in the camp, which will make giving my speech much easier.

"I think our team is one of the strongest in history and I believe that we can go out and do Britain proud and I intend to lead by example."

Greene comes into the Olympics in good form - setting a new personal best in his chosen event at the Diamond League meeting, even as he was beaten by rival Javier Culson.

Van Commenee believes Greene is the perfect choice for the leadership role.

"Dai was a stand out candidate for the London 2012 captaincy," said Van Commenee. "He is a very professional athlete who is both liked and respected by the rest of the team.

"He knows what it takes to win at the highest level and that is a valuable experience to share with the team. I know we can also rely on Dai to inspire his team-mates and I wouldn't be surprised if he raised a few laughs during his speech along the way."

Greene is the second Welshman in as many days to be handed Olympic captaincy duties - with Ryan Giggs being confirmed as the captain of the men's football team on Sunday.

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