EDMONTON, Alberta -- Maurice Greene has been the world's fastest human for the past four years -- and he left no doubt about it Sunday night.
|  | | Maurice Greene shoulders ahead of the pack during the men's 100-meters final. |
The always confident Greene shook off false starts by three of
his opponents and won his third consecutive world title, in 9.82
seconds -- the third-fastest time in history. He also owns the two
fastest times -- his world record of 9.79 and 9.80, both set in
1999.
Greene grimaced and hopped gingerly after crossing the finish line because of pain in his left quad and left hamstring, which he felt in the final 10-15 meters.
He also has been troubled by tendinitis in his left knee this year, and with all the injuries he said he would not defend his 200 world title later in the championships. He also said he was uncertain whether he would run in the 400 relay.
"If I'm not 100 percent, I'm not going to run," he said. "I'm
not going to jeopardize the U.S. relay with my ego."
In winning, Greene led a 1-2-3 U.S. finish, with Tim Montgomery
second at 9.85 and Bernard Williams third with a career-best 9.94.
He also became the second to win three straight 100 titles, joining
Carl Lewis, the winner in 1983, 1987 and 1991.
"The most important thing is I finished the race," the ailing Greene said. "I would have to hurt all the muscles in my body to stop."
Before the race got under way, false starts were called on Kim Collins of St. Kitts, Ato Boldon of Trinidad & Tobago, and Montgomery.
Greene never wavered or became ruffled.
Keeping his focus, he waited patiently for a clean start, then burst out of the blocks with his customary ferociousness, and at the end he held off the fast-closing Montgomery.
Montgomery blamed the false start for not winning.
"I knew I had a 9.75 in me," he said, "but the false start cost me the race."
Greene's ascent into international prominence began in 1997 when
he won his first world title. He added another in 1999 -- along with
the 200 title -- then won the Olympic 100 last year.
Earlier, Marion Jones showed why she hasn't lost a 100 final in
four years by winning her heats in rounds one and two, then
predicted a sensational time in her final.
|  | | Marion Jones hopes to keep winning heats, right on through Monday's final. |
Greene won his semifinal heat in 10.01, the fastest of the two heats, and oozed confidence going into the final. "I'm good," he said.
After a false start charged to his training partner Boldon, the
unflappable Greene won handily, easing up in the final 15 meters.
Although his time wasn't as impressive as his 9.88 in Saturday's
quarterfinals, Greene beat a high-class field, including former
world record-holder Donovan Bailey of Canada.
Bailey, who came into the championships with a torn ligament in
his left knee, finished sixth in his final international
appearance. He is retiring this year.
"I've been prepared to retire for a long time before today,"
Bailey said. "I was very happy to come back and show the world I
could still do it. One of the greatest decisions I made was finishing my career in Edmonton."
Cheered warmly by the crowd at Commonwealth Stadium when
introduced before the race, Bailey was given a standing ovation
afterward. He then got a Canadian flag and took a farewell lap
around the track as the crowd continued to applaud.
Afterward, Dr. Anthony Mascia examined Bailey and said he also
had fluid behind his kneecap and fluid in his knee, and should have
had surgery already.
"It was like a time-bomb," Mascia said of Bailey's knee.
The other world-class Canadian sprinter, Bruny Surin, pulled up lame during his semifinal.
Jones, the Olympic gold medalist blazed to victory in 10.93 in a
first-round heat -- a time that no other woman in the world has
bettered this year, and followed that by winning her quarterfinal
heat in 10.97.
Jones' fastest this season is 10.84 in Paris last month, and her
career best is 10.65.
"Ten-seven, 10.6 might be possible," she said of Monday
night's final, when she will be seeking her third consecutive world
title. "I have a lot left."
The semifinals also will be run Monday.
"I nailed my start for the first time all year," Jones, whose last defeat in the 100 was in the final race of the 1997 season, said after the opening round. Since then, she has won 42 consecutive finals.
In other finals Sunday, Olympic champion Szymon Ziolkowski of
Poland took the hammer throw with a meet record 273 feet, 7 inches;
Yanina Korolchik of Belarus won the women's shot put with a
national record of 67-7½, and Yelena Prokhorova of Russia took the
women's heptathlon with her season's best of 6,694 points.
In winning her opening-round heat, Jones had to overcome a false start. She said the starter was slow firing the gun.
"He's holding everybody an extremely long time," Jones said.
"Before the race, I tried to time him, but it didn't work. You
just have to adjust.
"Everywhere in the world it's different, but this is definitely
the longest time I've ever been held in the blocks."
Jones adjusted so well that she was nearly two-tenths of a
second faster than anyone else in the first-round heats.
Second-fastest was Greece's Ekaterini Thanou at 11.12. Thanou
matched Jones' 10.97 in winning her quarterfinal heat.
Men's high jump world record-holder Javier Sotomayor of Cuba,
competing in Canada for the first time since testing positive for
cocaine during the 1999 Pan American Games at Winnipeg, qualified
for the final by leaping 7-5¼ in qualifying.
Charles Austin of the United States, the 1996 Olympic champion, also advanced to the final.
Germany's Heike Drechsler, the Olympic women's long jump
champion, withdrew because of an injury to her right leg, sustained
during warmups before qualifying.
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