Green wants to spring a London 2012 surprise

Posted: Monday 2nd January 2012 | 14:42

NEVER short of confidence GB sprinter Jack Green is setting his sights on emulating Olympic sensation John Akii-Bua in claiming London 2012 gold this summer.

BOLT FROM THE BLUE: GB hurdler Jack Green wants to emulate Ugandan hurdling sensation John Akii-Bua who came from nowhere to win Olympic gold in 1972

Green was something of a 400m hurdles revelation in 2011, spurred on by world champion training partner Dai Greene the 20-year-old took over a second-and-a-half off his personal best.

In doing so Green claimed the European Under-23 Championships title as well as progressing to the semi-final of the world senior showdown in Daegu.

Akii-Bua shocked the world in 1972 by taking a wholly unexpected 400m hurdles gold medal at the Munich Olympics.

And with the Ugandan as a source of inspiration Green wants to provide a similar bolt from the blue on home soil this summer.

"My coach, Malcolm Arnold, was a friend of John Akii-Bua. I never met him but I feel as if I have. His story is a fantastic one and it is an inspiration," said Green.

"Hopefully, I could be the next John Akii-Bua, the guy who came from nowhere to suddenly drop an amazing time, a world record, to win the Olympics.

"That is why I would not rule out me doing well (at London 2012) because people wouldn't have said John Akii-Bua would have done well coming from Uganda, running 47.8secs and winning the Olympics from lane one. Stranger things have happened.

"Last year I went from 50.49 to 48.98 and I'd say that was a pretty long way in athletics terms. It's exciting, but I don't care about times next year. I want places, medals, titles."

And while on paper the 20-year-old's chances of taking gold on his Olympic debut appear slim, Green makes no apology for setting his sights high and imagining himself on the Olympic podium.

"I definitely have," he admits. "It's not going to happen unless you believe in it and visualising yourself is part of that.

"I have visualised myself on that podium a few times."