Maurice Greene (athlete)

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Maurice Greene Greene after winning the 100 m event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Nationality: American Distance(s): 100 meters, 200 meters Date of birth: July 23, 1974 (1974-07-23) (age 35) Place of birth: Kansas City, Kansas, United States Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Weight: 180 lb (82 kg)

Medal record Competitor for  United States Men's athletics Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney 100 m Gold 2000 Sydney 4x100 m relay Silver 2004 Athens 4x100 m relay Bronze 2004 Athens 100 m World Championships Gold 1997 Athens 100 m Gold 1999 Seville 100 m Gold 1999 Seville 200 m Gold 1999 Seville 4x100 m relay Gold 2001 Edmonton 100 m World Indoor Championships Gold 1999 Maebashi 60 m Goodwill Games Gold 1998 New York City 100 m Gold 1998 New York City 4x100 m relay

Maurice Greene (born July 23, 1974) is a former American track and field sprinter who specialised in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career (1997–2001) he won two Olympic gold medals and was a five-time World Champion. This included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had previously only been done by Carl Lewis.

His career was affected by a number of injuries from 2003 onwards, although he won the 100 meters bronze and silver in the sprint relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Greene was also successful indoors: he was the 1999 Indoor World Champion and remains the world record holder in the 60 meter dash and the joint-fastest man over 50 meters. He raced sparingly after an injury in 2005 and officially retired in 2008. Over his career, he made the second most sub-10 second runs in the 100 m (after Asafa Powell). However, his achievements came under scrutiny when he admitted to buying performance-enhancing drugs in 2008, although he denied having ever used them himself.^[1]

Following his track career he has become an ambassador for the IAAF and a TV personality, appearing on Identity, Blind Date and Dancing with the Stars

Contents 1 Biography 2 Personal bests 3 Achievements 4 Video Interview 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Maurice Greene was born in Kansas City, Kansas and attended F.L. Schlagle High School. In his youth and high school, he participated in both football and track and field, but eventually proved to be best in the latter.

In 1995 he took part in his first major international tournament at the World Championships in Gothenburg, but was eliminated in the 100 m quarter-finals. His next season was disappointing, as he failed to make the American team for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

However, the following season would be his breakthrough. At the World Championships in Athens, Greene won the 100 m title. This marked the beginning of Greene's dominance in the 100 m. He successfully defended his title in 1999 and 2001 and captured the Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. He was also successful at the 200 m. At the 1999 World Championships, he also won the 200 m title, the first to win both sprint events at a World Championships. However, he did not run the 200 m at the 2000 Olympics after an injury at the US trials.

In 1999 he set the 100 m world record at 9.79 s (+0.1 m/s wind), beating Donovan Bailey's standing world record of 9.84 s (+0.7 m/s wind), and lowering the world record by the largest margin since the advent of electronic timing. Greene also matched Bailey's 50 m indoor world record time, but the run was never ratified. He also set the 60 m indoor world record twice. His 60 m indoor record is currently at 6.39 s. Both records still stand. In addition, Maurice Greene is the only sprinter to hold the 60 m and 100 m world records at the same time.

In 2002, Greene lost his 100 m world record to fellow American Tim Montgomery, who beat his time by 0.01 (9.78 s +2.0 m/s), while Greene himself was injured and watched the race from the stands. Montgomery has since been found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs, and his record has been retroactively disqualified. The record was broken legitimately by Asafa Powell in 2005 with a time of 9.77 s (+1.6 m/s wind).

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greene added to his medal tally with the bronze after finishing third in his attempt to defend his 100 m title, and a silver as the anchor leg runner on the United States 4x100 m relay team, narrowly denied another Olympic Gold by the British team, who won by 0.01 seconds.

Greene ran 53 sub-10 second 100 m races during his career, which at the time was more than any other sprinter in history. This record has now been surpassed by Asafa Powell who has 54 100 m sub-10 second runs to his name.^[2] Previously Greene had held the record for the most wind-legal sub-10 second clockings for 100 m in one season, when he ran 9 sub-10s in 1999. This record was also broken by Asafa Powell in 2006 (12), and it was improved by Powell in 2008 to 15.

On December 21, 2006, he appeared as one of the "strangers" on the NBC game show Identity. The contestant, a self-proclaimed track and field fan, incorrectly identified him by name as Marion Jones, although she identified him as the "world's fastest man."

Greene also appeared on the TV reality show Blind Date.^[3]

On February 4, 2008, Greene announced his retirement from track and field in Beijing, citing nagging injuries and a wish to see new individuals succeed in the sport. Greene said he hopes to pursue coaching and business interests.^[4] In April 2008, the New York Times reported that Greene had paid Mexican discus thrower Angel Guillermo Heredia $10,000, which Heredia claimed was in payment for performance enhancing drugs. Greene admitted meeting Heredia and making the payment, but claimed it was common for him to pay for "stuff" for other members of his training group, and reiterated that he had never used banned drugs.^[5]

Greene was a contestant on Season 7 of Dancing With The Stars, and was paired with two-time champion Cheryl Burke. He was eliminated on Week 8 of the competition, taking 5th place.^[6] He hyperextended his leg during the competition. He later helped out in their pro-dancer competition and danced a Tango with future winner Anna Demidova. Greene also appeared on the American television series Blind Date where he was paired with a woman named Christie. Greene and Christie agreed that they would see each other again. He has a tattoo that reads GOAT referring to his claim to be "Greatest Of All Time."^[7][8]

[edit] Personal bests

Date	Event	Venue	Time
	Tied 50 m world record with Donovan Bailey, but time not ratified		5.56
March 2, 1998 & March 3, 2001	60 m current world record	Madrid & Atlanta, CA	6.39
June 16, 1999	100 m former world record	Seville, Spain	9.79 (+0.1 m/s wind)
July 7, 1997	200 m	Stockholm, Sweden	19.86 (+1.6 m/s wind)

[edit] Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1995	IAAF World Indoor Championships	Barcelona, Spain	4th	60 m
1997	IAAF World Championships	Athens, Greece	1st	100 m
1997	U.S. National Championships		1st	100 m
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, New York	1st	100 m
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, New York	1st	4x100 m relay
1999	IAAF World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	1st	60 m
1999	IAAF World Championships	Sevilla, Spain	1st	100 m
1999	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Munich, Germany	2nd	200 m
1999	IAAF World Championships	Sevilla, Spain	1st	200 m
1999	IAAF World Championships	Sevilla, Spain	1st	4x100 m relay
1999	U.S. National Championships		1st	200 m
2000	2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	1st	100 m
2000	U.S. National Championships		1st	100 m
2001	IAAF World Championships	Edmonton, Alberta	1st	100 m
2002	U.S. National Championships		1st	100 m
2004	2004 Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	3rd	100 m
2004	U.S. Olympic Team Trials	Sacramento, California	1st	100 m

[edit] Video Interview

• Flotrack.com Videos of Maurice Greene

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• IAAF profile for Maurice Greene
• USATF profile

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Wilson Kipketer	Men's Track & Field ESPY Award 1999	Succeeded by Michael Johnson
Preceded by Michael Johnson	Men's Track & Field ESPY Award 2001 – 2002	Succeeded by Tim Montgomery

v • d • e Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m 1896: Tom Burke • 1900: Frank Jarvis • 1904: Archie Hahn • 1908: Reggie Walker • 1912: Ralph Craig • 1920: Charlie Paddock • 1924: Harold Abrahams • 1928: Percy Williams • 1932: Eddie Tolan • 1936: Jesse Owens • 1948: Harrison Dillard • 1952: Lindy Remigino • 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow • 1960: Armin Hary • 1964: Bob Hayes • 1968: Jim Hines • 1972: Valeri Borzov • 1976: Hasely Crawford • 1980: Allan Wells • 1984: Carl Lewis • 1988: Carl Lewis • 1992: Linford Christie • 1996: Donovan Bailey • 2000: Maurice Greene • 2004: Justin Gatlin • 2008: Usain Bolt

v • d • e Olympic Champions in Men's 4×100 m Relay 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2000 United States Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis & Maurice Greene

v • d • e World Champions in Men's 100 m 1983 Carl Lewis · 1987 Carl Lewis · 1991 Carl Lewis · 1993 Linford Christie · 1995 Donovan Bailey · 1997 Maurice Greene · 1999 Maurice Greene · 2001 Maurice Greene · 2003 Kim Collins · 2005 Justin Gatlin · 2007 Tyson Gay · 2009 Usain Bolt

v • d • e World Champions in Men's 200 m 1983 Calvin Smith · 1987 Calvin Smith · 1991 Michael Johnson · 1993 Frankie Fredericks · 1995 Michael Johnson · 1997 Ato Boldon · 1999 Maurice Greene · 2001 Konstantinos Kenteris · 2003 John Capel · 2005 Justin Gatlin · 2007 Tyson Gay · 2009 Usain Bolt

v • d • e World Champions in Men's 4×100 m Relay 1983 United States · 1987 United States · 1991 United States · 1993 United States · 1995 Canada · 1997 Canada · 1999 United States · 2001 South Africa · 2003 United States · 2005 France · 2007 United States · 2009 Jamaica 1999 United States (Jon Drummond, Tim Montgomery, Brian Lewis & Maurice Greene)

v • d • e World Indoor Champions in Men's 60 m  1985: Ben Johnson (CAN)  •  1987: Lee McRae (USA)  •  1989: Andrés Simón (CUB)  •  1991: Andre Cason (USA)  •  1993 – 1995: Bruny Surin (CAN)  •  1997: Charalambos Papadias (GRE)  •  1999: Maurice Greene (USA)  •  2001: Tim Harden (USA)  •  2003: Justin Gatlin (USA)  •  2004: Jason Gardener (GBR)  •  2006: Leonard Scott (USA)  •  2008: Olusoji Fasuba (NGR)

Persondata
NAME	Greene, Maurice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	America athlete, Olympic medalist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 23, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kansas City, Kansas
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH