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| Monday, August 6 |
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| Greene out of remaining races with thigh injury Associated Press | |||
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Like a car that blows an engine because
it's going too fast, Maurice Greene's legs could not endure the
demands he put on them in one of the greatest 100-meter races of
all time.
"I basically took my body where it wasn't ready to go," Greene
said Monday, one day after he won his third consecutive 100 world
title.
His time of 9.82 seconds was third-fastest ever. Only Greene has
run faster, a 9.80 at the worlds in Seville two years ago, and his
world record 9.79 in Athens, also in 1999.
Who knows how fast he would have gone had he not strained his
left quadriceps muscle 20 meters or so from the finish?
"I would say it was my best race ever -- up to 65 or 70
meters," Greene said. "Yesterday was a remarkable day for me."
With the injury, Greene said he is finished at the World
Championships. He already had ruled himself out of the 200, and
said Monday he won't try to run the 400-meter relay, either.
"If it was up to me, even with the way I'm feeling, I would
still go out there and try to run," he said. "But I don't want to
let my ego get in the way of the United States four-by-one team."
Greene said that when he felt the pain in his thigh, he just
kept running.
"I was like, `I don't care what it is, I'm still going on,"'
he said. "When I'm out there competing, I will probably have to
die before I finish the race. ... That's just the type of athlete I
am. If I've got to crawl across the finish line, I'm going to be
crawling across the finish line."
Five of the eight runners eclipsed 10 seconds. At the 1991
worlds in Tokyo, in what is often regarded as the greatest 100
ever, six runners bettered 10 seconds.
Logic says that without the injury, Greene would have shattered
his world record.
"I would say yes because the last 15 or 20 meters I was hopping
along trying to finish the race, and I ran 9.82," Greene said,
"but who says I would have been able to come through in
world-record time? You never know. The point is, I was able to
finish the race in 9.82, and that's the most important thing, is to
win."
Greene will go home to Los Angeles for rehabilitation and plans
to be back soon, maybe within two weeks.
His coach, John Smith, said the injury is far less serious than
the one the sprinter had in the 200-meter finals at the U.S.
Olympic Trials last year. Greene went on to win the 100 and anchor
the winning 400-meter relay team in Sydney.
"He heals quick," Smith said.
Greene, 27, knows that the unrelenting speed he is asking from
his body could cut short his career, but he refuses to let up,
regardless of the race.
"I know what I'm doing is putting a lot of wear and tear on my
body, but that doesn't concern me," he said. "What concerns me
more is to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities. No
one wants to come to a meet and see you just run just because
you're there. They want to see a performance, and that's what I
love to give them."
Tim Montgomery, the silver medalist in 9.85, was gaining on
Greene at the finish. If not for a bad start, Montgomery, who also
ran a 9.84 this year, might have won.
There were three false starts, the last by Montgomery, and the
starter held the runners in the blocks for an exceedingly long
time. Montgomery said he let the starting situation get to him, and
Greene didn't.
"I should have locked my feet back in the blocks. That's what a
champion would do," Montgomery said, "and he proved that he is
the champion."
Greene has won the last three world 100 championships. Carl
Lewis won the first three.
"I came after Carl to take this sport to another level, to keep
pushing this sport forward, to keep the train going," Greene said.
The end of the line is still far down the tracks.
"A lot of people say, what do I have to accomplish now in this
sport, and I say I still have a lot," Greene said. "I believe I
can win more world championships. I believe I can win more Olympic
gold medals. I believe I can break my world record.
"I'm not done yet."
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ALSO SEE U.S. 800 champ Jacobs withdraws from Worlds Boldon joins Greene on sidelines at Worlds Monday's World Athletics Championships results Godina out of discus; Jones second in 100 semis Greene calmly collects world title in speedy 100 meters Male athlete at Worlds seeking refugee status | |
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