Commonwealth Games: Wales' Dai Greene withdraws from 400m hurdles after hamstring tear

Wales' former world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene has withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games with injury.

Greene, Commonwealth champion in 2010, was due to begin his campaign on Tuesday but tore a hamstring in training in Australia.

"I am really disappointed to miss out on what would have been my fourth Commonwealth Games," said Greene, 31.

"It's been an emotional 18 months and this is hard to take at such a late stage."

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Greene won the European and Commonwealth titles in 2010 and was crowned world champion a year later in Daegu, South Korea.

However, his subsequent career has been badly affected by injury. After finishing outside the medals at London 2012, he failed to make the final at the 2013 World Championships and was unable to compete at the Rio Olympics in 2016. He subsequently lost National Lottery funding in November that year.

The Swansea Harrier, who turns 32 on Wednesday, said he would turn his attention to supporting his team-mates on the Gold Coast.

"Representing Wales is special for me. That's why I fought so hard through a difficult period of injury to make it to the Games," he added.

"We have a group of brilliant athletes out here and I will be cheering them on to more medal success. Bethan Davies really set the tone for us with a bronze [in the 20km race walk] and now Livvy Breen [in the women's T38 long jump] has delivered a gold.

"I am confident there are more medals to come. I look forward to celebrating that success."

Team Wales chef de mission Nicola Phillips said: "We all admired the way Dai fought his way back from a long spell injury to qualify for the team. The way he has dealt so positively with this setback speaks volumes for his character."

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