SACRAMENTO – Step aside, Muhammad Ali. Maurice Greene wants to be known as the greatest of all time. In fact, he’ll tell you.
When asked yesterday after qualifying for today’s 100-meter semifinals if he would try to return to the Olympics and defend his gold medal, Greene smiled back and said, “I’m not going to try. I am going to repeat the gold medal.”
To do that, Greene will have to run better, sharper, cleaner and faster than he did yesterday. His time of 10.06 was the fourth-fastest quarterfinal time of the day.
“I got to get my start together,” acknowledged Greene. “I’m being a little bit lazy in the blocks. Other than that, my pickup is good, acceleration is good; I’m good.”
Shawn Crawford ran the fastest time of the day in 10.00. John Capel clocked a 10.01 followed by Justin Gatlin’s 10.03. Tim Montgomery, Greene’s archrival, ran a sloppy 10.14 to qualify unimpressively.
But Greene is supremely confident. He has the tattoo of a lion on his shoulder. If you look closely at the bottom of the tattoo, you can make out the letters GOAT – Greatest of All Time.
“I want to be known as the greatest [sprinter] of all time,” said Greene. “That’s what this year is all about.”
Greene has run the third fastest 100-meter time in the world this year, but still hasn’t posted times as fast as when he ran in 2000. That was before suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle accident in 2002, something he didn’t reveal until May at the Olympic Summit in New York.
“I wasn’t running as fast as I have because I wasn’t 100 percent healthy, not even close,” he said. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want anyone to have an edge.”
If the United States Anti Doping Agency is correct, Montgomery had an unfair edge when he set the world record in 9.78 seconds, a mere one-hundredth of a second faster than Greene’s best time. USADA has informed Montgomery that he faces a lifetime ban for using performance-enhancing drugs.
The Greene-Montgomery rivalry moved into the fast lane in May when Greene said he was in favor of a lifetime ban for any athlete who cheats.
When asked yesterday if Montgomery can win the gold, Greene said, “Hey everybody that lines up got a chance.”
Greene just thinks he has the best chance.
