The night Greene put even 吊りくさび in the shade

Maurice Greene woke yesterday in his downtown Edmonton hotel, a gold メダル on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, a 苦痛 in his thigh - and only one thought in his 長，率いる: 使節団 遂行するd.

The night before, Greene had limped into history with his third 連続した World 選手権s 100metres victory - a feat matched only by Carl 吊りくさび.

On the morning after, he 発表するd that his thigh 傷害 would stop him defending his 200m 肩書を与える or running in the 4x100m relay, and then 反映するd on the difference five years has made to American （短距離で）速く走る人s.

In 1996, Greene sat 失望させるd の中で the disappointed American （人が）群がる in the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta and watched his fellow-countrymen fail to 勝利，勝つ a メダル in the 100m. He 約束d himself that it would not happen again as long as he could run.

Those were the darkest days for the Americans in the event they regarded as their own 私的な domain.

Before the 失敗 at their own Olympics, they had been beaten for 100m gold by Britain's Linford Christie in the 1993 World 選手権s at Stuttgart and won no メダルs at all when Canada's Donovan Bailey 勝利d at Gothenburg in 1995.

Greene said: 'After Atlanta, I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to bring the U.S. 支援する to the 最高の，を越す and put them where they should be. I believe we have 達成するd that here. We have got the 最高の，を越す three. What more can you ask?'

吊りくさび won his world 肩書を与えるs at Helsinki in 1983, Rome in 1987 and Tokyo in 1991, before Greene had even arrived in Los Angeles to ask the assistant 跡をつける coach at UCLA John Smith to train him. But is 吊りくさび greater than Greene?

As an all-一連の会議、交渉／完成する 競技者, 吊りくさび's 評判 is unassailable. He won 肩書を与えるs at 100m and 200m 加える relays and the 走り幅跳び. He won nine Olympic golds - four of them at Los Angeles in 1984 - and a total of eight world 肩書を与えるs.

But at 100m, the balance is 攻撃するing に向かって Greene.

At 27, Greene has run inside 10sec without 勝利，勝つd 援助 39 times. 吊りくさび managed it 10 times and ran inside 9.90sec only once, when he broke the world 記録，記録的な／記録する. Indeed, only 10 men have ever broken 9.90sec - but Greene has managed it no より小数の than 15 times.

He won his gold メダル on Sunday in 9.82sec, the third fastest time in history and bettered only by Greene himself.

Remarkably, there was a slight headwind and the ビデオs showed that for the last six or seven strides he was struggling with the thigh 傷害 that could keep him out of 活動／戦闘 for the 残り／休憩（する） of the season.

What would the clock have read if he had raced for 100m rather than just 80? 'Man, I'll say 9.62,' he joked at his 圧力（をかける） 会議／協議会.

He 追加するd: 'Truthfully, though, I'll say I could have run about 9.77. But it's just 憶測. I'll take what the clock gives me.'

Smith, his coach who was celebrating his 51st birthday, had 予報するd 個人として that Greene would break the world 記録，記録的な／記録する by 0.02sec. 'But if you are going to 令状 it, say 9.78. There's enough 圧力 already,' he said.

He knew Greene's left 脚 was not 100 per cent. Tendinitis had been 影響する／感情ing the 膝 for weeks before he went to Edmonton. But Smith also knew how much a third 肩書を与える meant to Greene.

As Greene said: 'No-one is going to give you the gold. You have to come out and fight for it, and even be willing to die for it.

'I'm just thankful I was able to finish the race the way I did.

'Fifteen metres out, I felt a pinch in my thigh. I told myself: "This is not going to stop me". After that, I felt something in the hamstring and I thought: "I am not going to let that stop me either". When I am in a race like that, I 事実上 have to kill myself before I stop.'

Greene is anxious to take nothing away from 吊りくさび's 業績／成就s. He 尊敬（する）・点s and admires him and said: 'He is a 広大な／多数の／重要な 競技者. For me to equal something that he has done is good for me.

'But I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be known as the greatest 100m 走者 ever. Maybe my 指名する will start getting について言及するd now と一緒に 吊りくさび's but only time will tell.'

Greene, of course, should still be around for the 2003 選手権s in Paris. That could settle the argument.