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Jack Green can’t wait to race this weekend and secure his place at a second World Championships.
The 25-year-old Shepway hurdler is preparing for this weekend’s trip to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium for the British Championships, which also form the trials for August’s World Championships in London.
The Folkestone-based former Brockhill School pupil warmed up for the biggest event of his season so far by claiming a convincing win in the 400m hurdles representing Great Britain at the European Team Championships in Lille last Saturday.
After cruising through Friday night’s heat – barely breaking a sweat to finish in a time of 49.96sec – he returned early on Saturday afternoon to storm to victory in the final in a time of 49.47, despite another close encounter with a hurdle.
It was the double Olympic semi-finalist’s second win in his past three events – sandwiched by a fine display in an elite Diamond League field in Stockholm – and his eighth world class run in the past five weeks, spread across six countries.
The win secured maximum points for Great Britain in the competition, in which 11 countries compete over 40 events, although GB were pipped to third place overall by France.
Green said: “It’s great to have won for my country and to have beaten good athletes like Patryk Dobek from Poland who was a World Championships finalist (in Beijing two years ago) and Sergio Fernandez from Spain who won silver at the European Championships last year.
“However, all my focus is now on the weekend and making sure I am able to represent my country in a home World Championships.”
The Maidstone-born star has run three faster times than his Lille winning time already this season – all of them inside the qualification standard imposed by British Athletics for the World Championships at the Olympic Stadium in August.
It means that Green needs to qualify from Saturday afternoon’s heats (1.10pm) and secure a top-two finish in Sunday’s final (1.55pm) to guarantee selection for what would be his second World Championships, after his appearance at Daegu, South Korea, where he made the semi-finals during his breakout season in 2011.
Green added: “I’m excited about the weekend because things have been going well and I have every confidence I can push on from here.”
After Birmingham, Green will head to Stratford for the London Diamond League meeting – the Anniversary Games – on Sunday, July 9.