Jackson upstages Greene in 400m hurdles

EUROPEAN champion Dai Greene came crashing back down to earth at the Aviva London Grand Prix and could only manage third in Crystal Palace.

Greene clocked the joint second fastest time in history in Barcelona en route to his first major gold medal, clocking 48.12 seconds to equal the time of 1968 Olympic champion David Hemery.

He has since set his sights on bettering Kriss Akabusi's British record but having taken some time off from training since his return to home shores, he was no match for current world number one Bershawn Jackson in south London.

But Greene insists it won't be long before he is back on top form.

"I'm ranked around sixth in the world at the moment and I think our season's bests and personal bests are not that far away," said Greene, who crossed the line in 49.09.

"I've taken a bit of break from training since I've been back from Barcelona but the training for the Commonwealth Games starts on Monday so I'll be right back into it then.

"You could see I was rusty but you have to hand it to Bershawn, he's the best in the world but hopefully I'll come back stronger and be able to push him a bit closer."

Meanwhile, Jackson was pushed all the way by Puerto Rica's Javier Culson, who crossed the line just 0.05 off the pace and admitted he is being pressured from all directions at present.

"The field of hurdlers at the moment is really strong but I'm having a great season, staying humble and hopefully it will continue."

In the men's 100m heats, red-hot favourite Tyson Gay set the standard, crossing the line in 10.02 while his closest competitor was Walter Dix, 0.06 slower in his heat.

Great Britain's Christian Malcolm, Marlon Devonish and European silver medallist Mark Lewis-Francis all failed to advance to the final.