Maurice Greene (born July 23, 1974) is an American former track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 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 (1997–2004) he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion. This included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had previously only been achieved by Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and has since been equaled by three others.
His career was affected by a number of injuries from 2001 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, was the world record holder in the 60-meter dash for nearly 20 years and remains 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 third most sub-10-second runs (52) in the 100m, tied with Usain Bolt and only surpassed by Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin.
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. Most recently he volunteered as a track coach at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for the 2012–2013 season.
Since then he has become a Physical Education teacher at American Leadership Academy in Arizona.
Early life
Greene was born in Kansas City, Kansas and attended F.L. Schlagle High School. In his youth and high school, he participated in both American football and track and field. After high school, Greene received a Track scholarship to the University of Kansas. Greene also attended Park University and Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Sports career
Early career and breakthrough
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. After watching the Olympic final from the stands, Greene made his way to Los Angeles to seek the coaching of John Smith. He joined the start up HSI group. He went on to become the group's most visible member.
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.
World record holder and athletic prime
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 seconds. In addition, Maurice Greene was the only sprinter to hold the 60 m and 100 m world records at the same time. The previous IAAF logo was created in Greene's image.
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 rescinded. 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 to Justin Gatlin, and a silver as the anchor leg runner on the United States 4 × 100 m relay team, narrowly denied another Olympic Gold by the British team, who won by 0.01 seconds.