BARCELONA 2010: Greene roars to 400m hurdles gold; Williams takes silver

By Nick Clowes, Sportsbeat, in Barcelona

 DAI GREENE led a British - and Welsh - one-two with a blistering 400m hurdles victory at the European Championships in Barcelona.

DEADLY DUO: Rhys Williams (l) and Dai Greene pose with their silver and gold medals at the European Championships in Barcelona (Reuters)

Greene arrived in the Catalan capital as the red-hot favourite as fastest on the continent by a distance, and rather than wilt under the Spanish sun, he roared to victory.

It got better for Great Britain as compatriot Rhys Williams upgraded his 2006 European bronze to silver with a strong finish in the Olympic Stadium, while Stanislav Melnykov took bronze.

Greene crossed the line in 48.12, a new personal best and moved second in the all-time UK list, level with David Hemery - and vowed to go even quicker before the season is out.

"I'm really pleased to get the personal best, I was nearly going to break down in tears when I crossed the line," said Greene.

"I know that I can go under the 48 barrier and I'm looking forward to going faster and getting my time down before the season is out.

"I expected a gold medal from myself but there's one thing knowing you're good enough to win and another performing so I'm glad I could produce the goods when it really mattered."

Williams crossed the line in a personal best of 48.96 but he struggled to hide his disappointment at failing to top the podium in Barcelona.

"I know that I'm being hard on myself but I really wanted to win," said Williams, son of the Welsh rugby playing great JJ Williams.

"I got a personal best so I can't be too disappointed but I didn't want to do a lap of honour, that's for winners, not for people who come second.

"It was a great competition and David Greene ran a great race and deserves to win but I'll be back and going for the win at the Commonwealth Games.

"I know it sounds cheesy but I had a lot of support here in the crowd and I wanted to do it for them but you have not seen the last of me, I won't give up until I get to the top."

Elsewhere, Turkey's Nevin Yanit stormed to victory in the 100m hurdles in a national record of 12.63, while Ireland's Derval O'Rourke took silver in 12.65.

And Myriam Soumare continued France's dominance of the sprint events with 200m victory in 22.32.