Maurice Greene (born July 23, 1974) is an American sprinter in athletics, who holds several world records and Olympic medals. Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Personal bests 3 Achievements 4 External links [edit] Biography Maurice Greene was born in Kansas City, Kansas. In his youth and high school, he participated in both football and track and field, but eventually proved to be best in the latter. 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. However, the following season would be his breakthrough. At the World Championships in Athens, Greene won the 100 m title. This marked the beginning of a dominance of especially the 100 m by Greene, successfully defending his title in 1999 and 2001, setting the world record at 9.79 (+0.1m/s wind) (beating the July 1996 Olympic record of Donovan Bailey at 9.84) (+0.7m/s wind) in 1999 and capturing the Olympic Gold Medal in Sydney 2000. Since the advent of electronic timing Maurice Greene has lowered a world record by the largest margin (0.05s). At the 1999 World Championships, he also won the 200 m title, the first to win both events at a World Championships. Greene matched Donovan Bailey's 50m indoor world record and set the 60m indoor world record twice. His 60m indoor record is currently at 6.39s. Both records still stand. In 2002, Greene lost his World Record to fellow American Tim Montgomery, who beat his time by 0.01 (9.78s +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 disqualified. The record was broken legimately by Asafa Powell in 2005 with a time of 9.77s (+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, and a silver as the anchor leg runner on the United States 4x100 m relay team, narrowly denied another Olympic Gold by the British team, who won by 0.01 seconds. Greene has run 52 sub-10 second 100 m races during his career, more than any other sprinter in history. Ato Boldon (from Trinidad and Tobago) is a distant second with 28, and Frankie Fredericks of Namibia is third all-time with 27 sub-10's. [1]. Previously Greene had held the record for the most wind-legal sub-10 second clockings for 100 m in one season, when he ran 9 sub-10's in 1999. This record was also broken by Asafa Powell in 2006. [edit] Personal bests Date Event Venue Time 50 m tied current world record 5.56 March 2nd 1998 & March 3rd 2001 60 m current world record Madrid & Atlanta Ga 6.39 June 16, 1999 100 m former world record Athens, Greece 9.79 +0.1m/s wind July 7, 1997 200 m Stockholm, Sweden 19.86 +1.6m/s wind [edit] Achievements Year Tournament Venue Result Event 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 4th 60 m 1997 IAAF World Championships Athens, Greece 1st 100 m 1997 U.S. National Championships 1st 100 m 1998 Goodwill Games New York City, New York 1st 100 m 1998 Goodwill Games New York City, New York 1st 4x100 m relay 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 1st 60 m 1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 1st 100 m 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final Munich, Germany 2nd 200 m 1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 1st 200 m 1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 1st 4x100 m relay 1999 U.S. National Championships 1st 200 m 2000 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia 1st 100 m 2000 U.S. National Championships 1st 100 m 2001 IAAF World Championships Edmonton, Alberta 1st 100 m 2002 U.S. National Championships 1st 100 m 2004 2004 Summer Olympics Athens, Greece 3rd 100 m 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Sacramento, California 1st 100 m [edit] External links IAAF profile for Maurice Greene Maurice Greene's U.S. Olympic Team bio Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic champions in men's 100 m 1896: Tom Burke | 1900: Frank Jarvis | 1904: Archie Hahn | 1908: Reggie Walker | 1912: Ralph Craig | 1920: Charlie Paddock | 1924: Harold Abrahams | 1928: Percy Williams | 1932: Eddie Tolan | 1936: Jesse Owens | 1948: Harrison Dillard | 1952: Lindy Remigino | 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow | 1960: Armin Hary | 1964: Bob Hayes | 1968: Jim Hines | 1972: Valeri Borzov | 1976: Hasely Crawford | 1980: Allan Wells | 1984: Carl Lewis | 1988: Carl Lewis | 1992: Linford Christie | 1996: Donovan Bailey | 2000: Maurice Greene | 2004: Justin Gatlin Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic champions in men's 4x100 m relay 1912 Great Britain David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Victor d'Arcy & William Applegarth 1920 United States Charlie Paddock, Jackson Scholz, Loren Murchison & Morris Kirksey 1924 United States Loren Murchison, Louis Clarke, Frank Hussey & Alfred LeConey 1928 United States Frank Wykoff, James Quinn, Charles Borah & Henry Russell 1932 United States Robert Kiesel, Emmett Toppino, Hector Dyer & Frank Wykoff 1936 United States Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper & Frank Wykoff 1948 United States Barney Ewell, Lorenzo Wright, Harrison Dillard & Mel Patton 1952 United States Dean Smith, Harrison Dillard, Lindy Remigino & Andy Stanfield 1956 United States Ira Murchison, Leamon King, Thane Baker & Bobby Joe Morrow 1960 United team of Germany Bernd Cullmann, Armin Hary, Walter Mahlendorf & Martin Lauer 1964 United States Otis Drayton, Gerald Ashworth, Richard Stebbins & Bob Hayes 1968 United States Charles Greene, Melvin Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith & Jim Hines 1972 United States Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker & Edward Hart 1976 United States Harvey Glance, John Wesley Jones, Millard Hampton & Steven Riddick 1980 Soviet Union Vladimir Muravyov, Nikolay Sidorov, Aleksandr Aksinin & Andrey Prokofyev 1984 United States Sam Graddy, Ron Brown, Calvin Smith & Carl Lewis 1988 Soviet Union Viktor Bryzgin, Vladimir Krylov, Vladimir Muravyov & Vitaly Savin 1992 United States Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell & Carl Lewis 1996 Canada Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin & Donovan Bailey 2000 United States Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis & Maurice Greene 2004 Great Britain Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis Persondata NAME Greene, Maurice ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION America athlete, Olympic medalist DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1974 PLACE OF BIRTH Kansas City, Kansas DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Greene_%28athlete%29" Categories: 1974 births | Living people | African American sportspeople | American sprinters | Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics | BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality | People from Kansas City | Olympic competitors for the United States | People from Kansas | World record holders | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic silver medalists for the United States | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States