'Cool' Dai Greene to skipper GB&NI team in Stockholm

Dai Greene's "calm and rational" character makes him ideal captain material, according to UK Athletics performance director Charles van Commenee.

The 25-year-old hurdler was yesterday named as skipper of a strong Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad for this month's European Team Championships in Sweden.

The event takes place in Stockholm on 18-19 June and Van Commenee said: "Dai is a very responsible person and a very sensible person. He's one of our very best athletes at the moment. These are all good indications for an effective captain.

"I will be interested to see how he operates in that role and I will look in the future whether he is the right man to be team captain in the future also, and I'll compare with others.

"He's a very mature athlete and person. He's only 25 years old and has a seniority about him of a 30-plus athlete. I'm fully confident he's the right person for that role."

The Dutchman added: "He is a very calm and rational athlete. There are not many of those. Quite a few athletes have an emotional dominance where this man is very cool, calm and collected."

Greene, who will go in the 400m hurdles, will captain a team which includes Phillips Idowu in the triple jump, Helen Clitheroe in the 5,000m, Jenny Meadows in the 800m and Andy Turner in the 110m hurdles. Scots javelin thrower James Campbell is included, while compatriot Lee McConnell has been selected for the 4x400m relay.

Perhaps the most surprising inclusion, though, was Shana Cox, the United States-born 400m runner who received a British passport only last September and was not thought eligible to compete for her new nation for another three months.

However, though Cox, whose parents were both born in Britain, remains unavailable for the World Championships later this year, the IAAF has agreed the rule blocking her eligibility does not cover the Sweden tournament.

"We're going to use this opportunity," said Van Commenee. "We got approval to put her in the team. It's a nice bonus. She's raced really well this summer and she's very motivated to race for the British team. She's very eager to compete in Britain and for Britain and I'm sure she'll get some extra energy from that.

"She's flying in and out to be there which is quite an effort and you only do that when you're really motivated. So yes, I expect big things from her."