Dai Greene aiming for gold at World Championships

Dai Greene says he needs gold at August's World Championships in Korea as a springboard for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Welshman won gold in the 400m hurdles at last year's European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

But he wants to build on that in Daegu as part of his Olympics preparations.

"Even though the Olympics would be the highlight of my career, I definitely want to be on the podium come the World Championships in Korea," said Greene.

"I'm training all year to try and win the gold medal, I don't train just to try and get second place.

"If I didn't have that aim of getting on top of the podium, then I don't think I could handle the training I'm going through.

"It makes it all worth it imagining that at the end of the season.

"It's very important I do that because if I have a bad season this season then it's just going to overlap into next year and affect my Olympics.

"If I have a very good season and get to the top of the podium then I will have a huge amount of confidence going into 2012."

Llanelli-born Greene, who won silver at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009, says he hit all his targets in a fine 2010 season in which we walked away with two gold medals.

The first came in the European Championships in Barcelona at the end of July and the second came three months later in Delhi at the Commonwealth Games - equalling the feat of Iwan Thomas, Colin Jackson and Lynn Davies.

Now the 25-year-old feels his preparations are going well for the season ahead.

"The winter has gone better than it did the previous season and I couldn't have asked for a better last 12 months," he said.

"I've been training all year towards the World Championship in Daegu and as far as I'm concerned, what gets me through training every day is imagining being on top of the podium - that's my target.

"Because I've had a good winter's training I still believe I can achieve that. I'm in a better place than I was this time last year which is great and I'm very confident about the season ahead."

With the Olympics only just over a year away, Greene admits it is hard to ingore the attention the Games are bringing.

But he knows he has to do well this year if he is to put himself in good stead for London.

"It does play on my mind a little bit and my coach has mentioned that if you don't have a good season here, then it's going to put pressure on us for next year," added Greene.

"There's only four weeks rest between now and the Olympics.

"I have a huge amount of confidence from my previous season so if I can get on the podium in Korea, then that will give me a huge boos ahead of 2012.

"I'll be a little bit older, a little bit stronger as well and will have the home support.

"An ideal result will be to win the World Championships and be a major contender for London."