DAVID Greene admits he felt like the invisible man of British athletics for too long — but has vowed to be worth his weight in gold from now until the 2012 Olympics.

The 23-year-old Swansea Harrier has enjoyed the best year of his career to date following his seventh-place finish at the World Championships in August, having travelled to Berlin relatively unnoticed.

Greene has spent the past two years quietly chipping away at his 400m hurdles personal best, culminating in a breakthrough performance at his first major senior international event.

However, the hard work starts now for Greene — who claimed European under-23 gold in 2007.

The Swansea hurdler is all too aware of his new-found fame, but is in no mood to disappoint with the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games both on the agenda in 2010.

"I won't be taking my foot off the gas between now and 2012," said Greene, who lowered his personal best to 48.23 seconds in Berlin.

"I have been a lot busier since returning from Berlin, which I don't mind and I suppose I have that knowledge now that people want to tap into.

"Even though the European Championships don't mean as much as the worlds in terms of competition, reputation and medals, I still want to go out and win and cement my place as one of the best hurdlers around.

"The Commonwealth Games again are very different because I will be running for Wales, but I love doing that and it only comes around every four years.

"The atmosphere within the Welsh team is unique and it is always enjoyable — it should be good going to Delhi for the Commonwealths — it is all part of the process towards 2012."

Pivotal to Greene's rapid rise to fame has been coach Malcolm Arnold, who offered his services after former mentor Benke Blomkvist travelled back to Sweden for family reasons.

Under Arnold — Colin Jackson's former coach — Greene has turned himself into a genuine performer and with 1,000 days to go until London 2012, the Llanelli-based hurdler admitted he won't be changing a thing.

"I have had a real breakthrough year, but I won't be approaching next year or the years after that towards 2012 any different," he added.

"I won't be changing anything within my own set up. For me I just want to stick with the route I am on and keep being consistent with a view to the future.

"Malcolm and I will sit down and thrash out my programme for the winter and beyond. He won't have it all his own way and I won't have it all mine either and that is the great thing.

"We will strike a balance and take it from there.

"It has been great to be alongside him and I hope we can continue to go onwards and upwards together."

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