SYDNEY – In a room packed with scores of journalists and more testosterone than an East German swim meet, Maurice Greene took center stage and threw down the gauntlet.
Greene, the fastest man on earth thanks to his 9.79-second, 100-meter world-record time, promised the world “a performance they won’t forget” once he takes to the track beginning Friday. He said he planned to take it easy in the first heat but then to “let it all hang out” for the semis and the much-anticipated final against running club partners and friends Ato Boldon and Jon Drummond.
Greene, 26, who was his usual animated and confident self, then turned to Boldon sitting beside him and repeated for emphasis, “When I say ‘let it all hang out’ I mean fast and I’m going to let it hang out for you.”
The Greene and Boldon Show was the highlight of the morning chat, hosted by HSI, the track club founded by Olympic gold medalist John Smith and Los Angeles attorney Emanuel Hudson.
Safe to say that in addition to speed and talent, the major attribute of HSI runners is confidence. No to be outtalked was Drummond, who will run in the 100 meter and 200 meter events. Asked what he thought of comments made by Aussie sprint star Matt Shirvington who claimed the U.S. sprinters were “soft,” Drummond replied: “Matt has never beaten me, so if I’m soft, he’s a squeegee.”
Greene’s boast, repeated many times this summer, that he would set a world record at these Games, and Bolden’s reply that it would have to come in Bolden’s tailwind, has created a match race sort of frenzy in the media.
With that, all attention has focused on the 100. Track and field events kick off Friday after swimming, the star attraction of the first week of the Sydney Summer Games, concludes tomorrow night.