London 2012 Olympics: Dai Greene says presence of drugs cheat LaShawn Merritt in London could ruin his Games I've never spoken to him before in my life. All I know is that I'll probably see him around the competition, but I'm not concerned about anything he has to say. He got banned, and it seems to me that the ban was pretty soft. It's just disappointing that if I am running the relay, I will have to run against somebody who has taken drugs in the past. And I know that he has. He purposely did it. Greene begins mobilising for the Olympics at Thursday night's Diamond League meeting in Rome, but already his path to London is stalked by the spectre of Merritt. "The truth is that Britain has higher standards on drug-testing than anybody," the 26 year-old argues. The rest of the world should be in line with us. We shouldn't lower our standards to accommodate drugs cheats at the Olympics. Athletes should speak out if they feel strongly about this. I'm fortunate that I'm in a position where I can. His contempt for Merritt is magnified by the fact that the Virginian sought to blame the test result on an over-the-counter male enhancement product. But Greene, while an implacable purist and a ferociously dedicated athlete, does have sympathy for a drugs offender of closer acquaintance. Dwain Chambers, whose Olympic ban for drug use has been overturned, is redeemed in his fellow Briton's eyes by heartfelt remorse. Video: Greene wins in Daegu I've spoken to Dwain and he's such a nice guy, a genuine guy. I've nothing but praise for the way he is conducting himself. He has been hung out to dry by a lot of organisers. I suppose that's the way it should be, but it's not for many others. Dwain was very young when he did it, and he has gone a long way to help combat drugs cheats since then. And yet he has come off much worse. Greene wins no prizes for popularity by his candour. Angelo Taylor, the American 400m hurdler, has already reacted with agitation to the alleged suggestion - denied by his British rival - that the American contingent in the 400m hurdles were overrated, describing Greene's World-Championship winning time of 48.26 seconds in Daegu last August as "very slow." It is an accusation that Greene, also the European and Commonwealth gold medallist in his discipline, shrugs off with ease. I want to try to run about 47.5 at the Olympics. I felt I could have gone under 48 last year, but there were a few chinks in a performance that I could have worked out. Those "chinks" relate to a hip injury that Greene had been carrying since the start of 2011. "Who knows how fast I could have gone if I hadn't had that problem?" he asks. Such has been the intensity of his winter-training regime, and the relief he has derived from at last being fully fit, that this conscientious soul is rightly installed as one of Britain's best hopes of Olympic track-and-field gold behind Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon. Hurdling medal man 2011 World Championships (Daegu) 400m hurdles gold European Team Championships (Stockholm) 400m hurdles gold 2010 Commonwealth Games (Delhi) 400m hurdles gold European Championships (Barcelona) 400m hurdles gold Continental Cup (Split) 400m hurdles gold 2009 World Championships (Berlin) 4x400m relay silver "Leading races, winning medals for Great Britain: that's where my happiness mainly comes from," he admits. If you ask me how much is in my bank, I don't know. I don't care, to be honest. I just want to know how I'm going to do in the track session tomorrow, or in the gym. That dictates how happy I am on any given day, really. Would that Greene's sanguine nature could be transmitted to his team-mates as their Olympic crucible approaches. "I have a calmness," he stresses. For instance, in the 4x4, I'm not going to be losing my head. If I can help the younger members of the team, that's important. We have to grab this opportunity, not be overwhelmed by it. The attitude informs the manner in which Greene has surmounted adversity, not least a flirtation with football at Swansea City aged 11, and a well-documented battle against epilepsy. Greene suffered with the condition severely as a teenager, once losing a tooth when he fell face down on a concrete pavement in Magaluf, but the asceticism of his athletic routines has helped keep the condition at bay. In 2006, he was able to wean himself off anti-convulsant medication. Virtually everything in Greene's life he owes to the sanctuary of the track. He has relocated to Bath with his girlfriend Sian, a primary-school teacher, and reflects upon his childhood football ambitions with a pragmatic head. I had been offered a contract by Swansea, so that was my golden ticket, in effect. But I wasn't enjoying the training, and the whole experience was making me quite depressed. But it all worked out for a reason, because it led me to athletics. Dai Greene is part of Nike's Make It Count campaign. Visit www.facebook.com/nikerunninguk or on Twitter #makeitcount