Maurice Greene Retires
I had the pleasure of treating and knowing Maurice early in my career. He was always very personable and his love of track and field was obvious. He wasn’t a world record holder when I first meet him but he was a World Champion and soon after the 60m indoors would be his first world record and a short time later the 100m. We would talk about breaking the record every time I treated him and how he knew one day it would be his…He was right.
It’s ironic that He attended Henry’s and my wedding In 1998 and then almost 10 years later we have a 8 year old daughter that may someday have a great fate God willing as he. I haven’t spoken to him in many years but I am sure I will see him at a track meet because really you never can retire from being a part of this great sport as a participant or a enthusastic spectator and fan.
Beijing, China (Sports Network) – Two-time Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene announced his retirement from track & field Monday.
“It is now more than 11 years since I packed my bags and, with the help of my father, drove to Los Angeles in a bid to fulfill my sprinting dreams,” Greene said. “Never, then, would I have thought that it would be an adventure that would last so long, delivering Olympic gold medals, world titles and world records along the way. Now, though, I have reached journey’s end.”
The 33-year-old Greene, who won the 100- and 200-meters at the World Championships in Seville, Spain in 1999, said he found it difficult to try and come back from injuries leading to this year’s Summer Olympics.
“Injuries are every sprinter’s worst nightmare, and I seem to have been constantly fighting them for the past three seasons,” Greene said. “So I have decided to retire from competing in the sport which I love and which has given me so much over this past decade.”
A native of Kansas City, Greene, a three-time world 100-meter champion and an Olympic gold medalist at the same distance and in the 4×100-meter relay in 2000, set a world record in the 100 at 9.79 seconds, which is now the second- fastest ever.
“Maurice has secured his place as one of the greatest sprinters, and greatest champions, in track history,” USA Track & Field president Bill Roe said. “He set the standard for a generation of sprinters, and he put his own stamp on events with his audience-friendly personality. We wish him well in the next phase of his career.”
02/04 19:59:19 ET
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