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Raise Your Game: Talk us through the moments you experience before a big race.

Dai Greene: When we are all in the call room you feel a little bit nervous and I just try to focus on the race at hand. As soon as we were led out into the stadium it just feels fantastic. You feel really switched on then and you just get mentally prepared for the race.

RYG: What's been your biggest inspiration to get you where you are today?

DG: I played football when I was younger and I was a big fan of Ryan Giggs and Manchester United. That got me involved in sport first of all, but then I was drawn to athletics. When I started the event I looked up to people like Felix Sanchez and Michael Johnson and when you see what stars such as Usain Bolt are doing at the moment that's just fantastic for our sport.

RYG: What's it like being next to Sanchez when you've looked up to him like that?

DG: It's strange. When I started a few years ago I thought 'Wow it'd be fantastic to race Sanchez,' but then 'He's too old now, he's not going to be around when I'm around.' To race in a World Championship final against one of the most successful four hurdlers that's ever been is great.

RYG: Who was the first to recognise your talent?

DG: My parents have always been incredibly supportive of me in sport and they took me anywhere I needed to go whatever sport it was I was playing.

When I was a youngster I was playing for Swansea Youth Academy and they recognised that I had some talents, but when it came to athletics it wasn't until I went to university really that my coach Dan Maynard started to coach me and develop my talent.

RYG: Do you have a good relationship with the other competitors?

DG: Yes. For some reason you warm to other athletes more than some people. You speak to these people after idolising them for years and now you get their respect and chat with them.

RYG: If someone had told you in school that you would be where you are today what would you have said?

DG: I was always confident that I could achieve something in sport and that was always my dream. I never had any ambition to do anything else other than being a professional sportsman. In school I probably didn't think of it too much, but in recent years it was definitely something I had to strive towards.

RYG: Do you have a message for young people watching you and wanting to be like you?

DG: It doesn't matter where you're from, you can all make it, including in sport. You just have to persevere and put in the hard work and the results will come.