ContinueIn a few days time the curtain will be raised on one of the greatest sporting spectacles this country has ever witnessed. While the world turn their attentions to the myriad athletes competing in London, former Great Britain Olympic hero Jamie Baulch will have eyes for one athlete in particular.
Baulch's compatriot Dai Greene is seen as one of Britain's best hopes for a gold medal, and as one of London 2012 has the opportunity to etch his name in games history this summer.
As the Felinfoel born Greene settles down in the athletes' village to prepare for two of the most important weeks of his career, his manager, mentor and friend Baulch believes he cannot be more prepared.
"He's done all the training, he's done all the hard work and he thrives on that," insists Baulch. "All the great athletes out there, it's not so much of a pressure thing, it's a destiny thing. He would rather be in these games going out there with an opportunity to win it, rather than going into them injured. I know it's how I would rather be and that would be to have the opportunity and that's what Dai's belief is."
Baulch's heroics in the 400 metre relay seem almost a lifetime ago, and while he can preach about Greene's capabilities as an athlete, he, perhaps more than most know exactly what's running through the hurdler's mind.
Greene will be reviving his role as captain for the Great Britain track and field team, a position he was handed ahead of the world championships in Daegu last summer. While the pressure of leading by example may be too much for some, Baulch firmly believes that Greene will be better for it.
"There's not that many people in the team who could actually pull it off as well as Dai, and I think they've made the right choice," Baulch asserts. "I don't know if he'll thrive on it, but I know that he'll deal with it well. Dai's very switched on. He's a very good character and trains really hard.
"He's quite unassuming to a degree. Over the years he's grown a lot more confident that what he was. When you see him now he oozes that confidence. It's by no means arrogance, it's confidence. I've been there before, got the t-shirt and being an Olympic medalist myself, I know how amazing that is. If he can go there and come away with a gold medal, the rest of his life would change forever."
On the track Greene is a different beast. His closely-cropped hair and physical presence offer an intimidating image to his competitors. However, there is one more man he will have to get the better of. Javier Culson's emergence in the 400 metres hurdles has rocked what looked to be a nailed on chance of gold for Greene. The Puerto Rican has set the bar for the event, but as Baulch admits, the competition will get the best out of his man.
"It would be very boring if he didn't have any competitors and Culson really makes the event more interesting. If there was no Culson in the event, we could all say potentially Dai could wrap it up, or that's he's won the gold already. That wouldn't be the most exciting thing for him and I think he would prefer to have somebody like Culson in that race, rather than not.
"There's no hiding place. When you want to become Olympic champion, you can't just get given it. You've got to go out there and earn it. Culson has been beating him all year, but what Dai did in Paris in running a personal best and chasing him down was incredible. He [Greene] is on an upward spiral, whereas Culson has only been getting slightly better. I'm hoping with that bit more strength that Dai has and with that lift of a home crowd, that could be it."
Until then we will be made to wait. Whether it is Greene or Culson who cross the finish line first, one thing is for certain it will be a race for the ages.
With over 30 Olympic and Paralympic medals between them stars such as Sean Kerly, Tanni Grey Thompson, Duncan Goodhew, Fatima Whitbread, Gail Emms and John Regis will be picking up the phone to encourage local sports clubs to sign up and take part in the first 'Join In' weekend from the top of the BT Tower.
The athletes taking part will be tweeting between now and the event on Wednesday to encourage sports clubs and individual to register their interest in receiving a call about 'Join In' from one of their Olympic heroes at: www.joininuk.org/telethon
