DAVID GREENE weathered the storms to progress to the 400m hurdles final at the European Championships — and insists he isn't feeling the pressure one bit.

The 24-year-old splashed through the puddles at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona to win his semi-final and reach the final as the fastest qualifier.

Greene travelled to Barcelona as red-hot favourite for gold and clocked 49.48seconds in the semi-final to progress — almost a second outside his season's best.

Russian Aleksandr Derevyagin led for the first 250 metres, but Greene was always on his shoulder and eased ahead the penultimate hurdle.

He then stretched clear between the last two barriers and coasted over the line.

The Swansea Harrier faces stiff competition from fellow countryman Rhys Williams in the final after he won his semi-final and qualified as second fastest.

However, despite the expectation on Greene to add to the two gold medals Britain have already claimed, he remains cool in the Catalan capital.

"It was comfortable enough. They were pretty horrendous conditions but I'm not worried about the time — it was all about getting through," said the Llanelli-born athlete.

"When we were warming up it was absolutely lashing it down and I thought it was going to be postponed to be honest.

"It was tougher than my heat. Half an hour before I was about to get on the track I was contemplating speaking to the track official because the amount of water would have made hurdling unsafe.

"But I was happy to get on with it and I'm glad it dried up a bit because it would have been awful to run in that heavy rain.

"I didn't have to push it too much at the end. I was always in control coming down the home straight and I'll have a nice bit of rest for a day.

"I don't look under pressure because I don't feel under pressure — this is me when I'm stressed. You have to do a lot to stress me out."

Williams, who finished nearly a second behind Greene at last month's Aviva European Trials and UK Championships in Birmingham, looks to be peaking as he seeks to improve on the bronze he won four years ago in Gothenburg.

He won his semi-final in 49.61.

"I'm in the final so now I'm in contention to do the business and I can't ask for any more than that," he said. "I've given myself every opportunity and I'm really pleased with that."

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