Second place at the Diamond League in Rome. 26 May 2011

Dai Greene clocked an impressive 48.24 seconds in his first race of the season, to take second place at the IAAF Diamond League in Rome.

In a world class field with America’s two times Olympic Champion Angelo Taylor and two- time World Champion Kerron Clement, Dai finished runner up to South African Louis Jacob Van Zyl, the athlete he beat to win the Commonwealth Games title last October.

He was closing in on Van Zyl in the final 50m to clock the fastest season opening time of his career. With his sights set on Gold at the World Championships in Daegu this August, following his European and Commonwealth double last year, Dai said after the race:

“It’s nice but at the same time I’m not happy unless I’m winning. That’s the mentality I have.”

Dai ran sub 48 seconds to win the IAAF Continental Cup in Split last season to come within 6 hundredths of a second of Kriss Akabusi’s British record, his personal best stands at 47.88 seconds.

Martyn Rooney also opened his season in Rome, finishing 8th in 400m fading in the final stages to clock 46.12 seconds.