OLYMPIC hero Darren Campbell has told Dai Greene to forget about times if he wants to claim gold in London this year.

Despite adding World Championship gold to a collection which already features the European and Commonwealth titles, Greene has still seen his London chances questioned.

Last year hurdling legend Ed Moses warned the 25-year-old Swansea Harrier that he will have to produce a quicker time to complete his silverware set in London.

Greene's victory at the World Championships in Daegu was achieved in a time of 48.26 seconds, one of the slowest ever to win the 400m hurdles title.

However, Campbell insists all talk of times is irrelevant with Greene having shown the most vital ingredient of the lot — mental fortitude — in abundance.

"Finals are never about times," he said. "You can run a personal best or world record and still finish second or third so I wouldn't be worrying about times.

"The Olympic Games or World Championships are not about times — it's being able to stand on that podium.

"I have always believed that Dai has got the mentality to be an Olympic champion.

"I don't know how anybody can predict what the times are going to be in the Olympic final when the season hasn't even started yet.

"Who knows what time it's going to take to win it? So Dai doesn't need to focus on times, just on being an Olympic champion and making sure he executes his game plan at London 2012."

Although on both a domestic and international level Greene has few peers, Moses's illumination of his comparatively slow winning time in South Korea is backed up by the overall British rankings.

Despite Greene's dominance he has yet to overhaul Kriss Akabusi at the top of the domestic all-time list, with the Barcelona 1992 Olympic bronze medallist's best of 47.82 seconds still standing.

But while Campbell is an advocate of medals not stopwatches, the man who claimed Olympic gold as part of the 4x100m relay squad in Athens in 2004 insists all the ingredients are in place for Greene to go quicker.

"Dai is coached by Malcolm Arnold and Malcolm was one of the reasons why I moved to South Wales, and I always think it is very important that you get the right team behind you," added Campbell. "And I think Dai has that with Malcolm and Jamie Baulch as an agent because they know what it takes to cope with the pressure and deliver on the big stage."

Sportsbeat's coverage is provided in conjunction with P&G.