OLYMPICS; Before His Bid for Athens, Greene Puts His Name on Gold (original) (raw)
Sports|OLYMPICS; Before His Bid for Athens, Greene Puts His Name on Gold
Advertisement
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
OLYMPICS
- July 9, 2004
Maurice Greene, the sprinter who spins fluorescent tapestries with his mouth and makes history with his feet, has already won his Olympic gold medal this summer.
In his mind.
On the eve of the United States Olympic track and field trials, where Greene believes he will qualify Sunday to go to the Athens Games in the 100 meters, his moxie was back.
''Athens is a great place for me,'' Greene said with a grin here this week. ''It's where I won my first world championship medal, it's where I broke my world record and it's where I got a package that's waiting on me there; I got to pick it up.
''It's a little medal that says Athens Greece 2004 Olympic Games,'' Greene continued, ''and then it's got Maurice Greene, and then it's got my time on there.''
Not everyone believes his bravado, certainly not his competitors.
Soon to be 30 years old, after a trying two years of injury and defeat, Greene, the defending Olympic champion in the 100, is no longer considered invincible on the track.
In January 2002, four months after Tim Montgomery broke Greene's world record, a car sideswiped Greene when he was riding his motorcycle to practice on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles. After driving himself to the hospital in a car, he found out his leg was broken.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement