By Owen Morgan
Former world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene is launching a new career by reaching out to his old college in Carmarthenshire.
Wales’ 2011 world-beater is preparing for life after hurdling by becoming a mentor for Coleg Sir Gâr, which has a campus in his home town of Llanelli.
Elite performers at the college, which has a long-established sporting reputation, will benefit from the Swansea Harrier’s vast knowledge gathered during his stellar career.
Greene, who is hoping to qualify for next year’s Tokyo Olympics, said: “As I’m nearing the end of my career it has given me time to think about young, aspiring athletes and how I can support them.
“As an ex-student, I decided to reach out to Coleg Sir Gâr, as they’re already doing great things with their Elite Performer Programme, with an aim to offer my services as a mentor.
“This partnership will draw upon my experiences as an athlete to help guide them through the early parts of their careers.”
The partnership will support the college’s Elite Performer Programme ‘GOLD’ athletes who represent Wales and Great Britain within their respective sports.
The 34-year-old will provide one-to-one mentoring support for athletes in a variety of areas from wellbeing, lifestyle management, psychological preparation for competition, nutritional guidance and coping strategies essential for elite sport.
The support from Greene, who now lives in the Midlands, will be accessed online at key intervals throughout the season and will be bespoke to the individual athlete’s needs.
The eight GOLD standard athletes currently within the college’s elite performer programme participate in various sports including track cycling, triathlon and snooker.
It is hoped to eventually roll out the mentoring across the college’s hugely successful sports academy for select rugby, football and netball players.
Rob Kirk, Elite Performer Programme Academy Director, at Coleg Sir Gâr said of the partnership: “We are privileged that Dai wanted to launch his new career pathway with us and delighted that our Elite Performer Programme Athletes will be the first to benefit from his World Class experience and knowledge as a current elite athlete.”
The five-time British Champion has a huge amount of experience to draw on having won 400m hurdles gold medals representing Wales at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the European Athletics Championships.
As well as winning the 2011 world title in Daegu, Greene finished fourth in both the 400m hurdles and 4x400m finals at the 2012 London Olympics, where he was also GB team captain.
Before his long career as a top-class professional athlete, Greene was also on the books at Swansea City’s Academy – once scoring a penalty against Real Madrid in a youth tournament.
Greene, who has had epilepsy since he was 17, has previously reached out to schools offering sessions as an inspirational speaker for pupils.
Apart from the hurdler, Coleg Sir Gâr has produced a string of sports stars including the likes of Wales and British Lions prop Adam Jones and current Welsh internationals Gareth Davies, Scott Williams and Josh Adams.