World 400metres hurdles champion Dai Greene will captain Great Britain’s athletics team at the Olympics.
The 26-year-old is one of Team GB’s best hopes for gold on the track as he looks to add the Olympic title to his world, European and Commonwealth crowns.
Greene said: “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.”
It is the second time Greene has led the team, having also held the position for the European Team Championships in Sweden last year. On that occasion, Britain finished fourth in the 12-team event with the Welshman winning his race in a championship record.
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 we can go out and do Britain proud and I intend to lead by example.”
UK Sport last week announced targets for all of Britain’s Olympic teams and said they expected the athletics squad to claim between five and eight medals.
Charles van Commenee, head coach of UK Athletics, claimed last week he would quit if the team failed to meet the target but said today he is convinced that he has the right man to lead the team.
Van Commenee said: “Dai was a stand-out candidate for the London 2012 captaincy. 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. 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.”
