WELSH medal hope Dai Greene has backed Gareth Warburton and Rhys Williams after the pair failed doping tests before the Commonwealth Games, writes Andrew Penman.

Greene starts the defence of his 400m hurdles title in Glasgow tomorrow and the former world champion admitted he was stunned when he heard the news about his Welsh teammates.

“Gareth sent me a text to tell me the news and I was almost physically sick,” said Greene.

“I don’t know anyone who has failed a test before personally until that moment.

“I found it hard to process because he is one of my best friends.

“We used to live together for a couple of years and trained together.

“To read that about him was shocking because I know he is not that sort of person and my heart sunk for him.

“I have since spoken with Gareth and he’s disappointed about everything but focused on his task of getting to the bottom of things.

“Hopefully he can find exactly how it’s happened and can move on from there. “

Greene and Williams are 400m hurdles rivals and don't get on but Greene has sympathy for Williams as well.

“Rhys and I aren’t the best of pals and we are quite fierce rivals,” admitted Greene.

“But I know he is not the sort of guy who would take things to get an advantage.

“I sympathise with his situation. Hopefully they can both sort things out and wear a Welsh vest again.

“I’m not sure what they are going through because I have not been in their situation but I can’t imagine it’s pleasant.”

The pair now face a battle to clear their names ahead of hearings later this year as they investigate what supplements they have taken.

“Having spoken to Gareth, I know about the ins and outs about how it maybe has come about but I don’t want to comment on that because it is an ongoing process,” added Greene.

“It has not been proven where it has come from yet and until that is we don’t know what goes on."