The photo above show Maurice (lane 7) crossing the line to take the bronze medal in the
men's 100m at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Justin Gatlin (lane 3) won the Gold with
Francis Obikwelu (lane 5) winning silver. It was a fine defence of the title that Greene
had won in Sydney, his time of 9.87 just two hundredths of a second behind the winner Gatlin.
.
| |
|
Men's 100m. Final.
Olympic Games 2004
|
| 1. Justin Gatlin |
|
USA |
|
9.85 |
| 2. Francis Obikwelu |
|
POR |
|
9.86 |
| 3. Maurice Greene |
|
USA |
|
9.87 |
| 4. Shawn Crawford |
|
USA |
|
9.89 |
| 5. Asafa Powell |
|
JAM |
|
9.94 |
| 6. Kim Collins |
|
SKN |
|
10.00 |
| 7. Obadele Thompson |
|
BAR |
|
10.10 |
| Aziz Zakari |
|
GHA |
|
DNF |
| |
|
During the 1970s and 1980s the Olympic Games suffered from several
boycotts (1976, 1980 & 1984) with the inevitable consequence many
Olympic medalists were not really worthy of the status. The introduction
of the World Championships in 1983 thankfully introduced an event that,
at the time, was the real No 1 athletics contest. However, once the
boycott era was over the Olympics again became the event to win.
World champions are mostly remembered by the nations they represented
whereas Olympic Champions are more likely to be remembered by the World.
Maurice Greene had yet to win an Olympic medal when he travelled to
Sydney for the 2000 Games and the fact he was only contesting the 100
metres was an indication of the importance he placed upon an Olympic
Gold. (He and Micheal Johnson both failed to contest the final of the
USA 200 metres Olympic trial in the show down that never was). This was
however an event he had to contest. After taking his semi-final in 10.06
(Dwain Chambers won the other in 10.14 secs) the stage was set for the
World champion and World record holder to perform at the summit.
He did
not let himself down. As the photo above shows he won comfortably (9.87
secs) from his friend Ato Boldon (9.99) in lane 8 with Odadele Thompson
third in 10.04 secs (lane 3) the latter winning Barbados's first ever
Olympic medal. Maurice then enjoyed the additional pleasure of winning a
second gold when he anchored the 4 x 100 mteres relay team. (George Herringshaw)
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ANNUAL PROGRESS.
|
100 Metres.
2007 10.84 +1.1 Carson, CA 20 MAY
2006 10.35 -0.5 Baie Mahault 01 MAY
2005 10.01 +1.9 Carson, CA 25 JUN
2004 9.87 +0.6 Athína 22 AUG
2003 9.94 +1.4 Carson, CA 01 JUN
2002 9.89 +0.9 Roma 12 JUL
2001 9.82 -0.2 Edmonton 05 AUG
2000 9.86 -0.2 Berlin 01 SEP
1999 9.79 +0.1 Athína 16 JUN
1998 9.90 +0.3 Stockholm 05 AUG
1997 9.86 +0.2 Athína 03 AUG
1996 10.08 +0.3 Atlanta, GA 14 JUN
1995 10.19 +0.8 Bratislava 30 MAY
|
200 Metres.
2003 20.16 0.0 Walnut, CA 19 APR
2000 20.02 +0.9 Roma 30 JUN
1999 19.90 -0.8 München 11 SEP
1999 19.90 +1.2 Sevilla (La Cartuja) 27 AUG
1998 20.03 +1.4 Walnut, CA 19 APR
1997 19.86 +1.6 Stockholm 07 JUL
|