OSAKA, Japan, 8 May 2004 — American sprint star Maurice Greene is hoping to put an ankle injury behind him at the IAAF Japan Grand Prix this weekend in preparation for repeating his Sydney Olympic victory at August’s Athens Games. The three-time world sprint champion clocked the fastest time of the year in 10.02 seconds to win his 2004 outdoor debut at Walnut, California, three weeks ago, beating current world 100-meter record holder Tim Montgomery.
But the “Kansas Comet” injured his ankle a week later at the Grand Prix II meet in Martinique despite winning his heat, and abandoned the final allowing Montgomery to win it in 10.08. Greene, however, will miss his arch rival Montgomery who pulled out of the event after both he and his wife Marion Jones were linked to a doping scandal.
Montgomery and Jones have said they were “not in top condition” and decided to “compete in a meeting where there is no time difference,” according to the Osaka organizers.
Last week, the US newspaper San Jose Mercury News reported that Montgomery and Jones were among 27 athletes named in a federal investigator’s memo as having received the steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) from BALCO Laboratories.
Today’s meet is the opener of the nine-round Grand Prix series with Greene highlighting the day alongside hammer throwing local hero Koji Murofushi and world 110m hurdles champion Allen Johnson of the United States.
Greene, former world record holder of 9.79 set in 1999 before Montgomery marked 9.78 in 2002, will compete against Obadele Thompson of Barbados, compatriot J.J. Johnson, and world bronze medalist Shingo Suetsugu in the 100m.
Suetsugu surprised the world by becoming the first Japanese sprinter to win a medal on the global stage when he finished third in the men’s 200m at the World Championships in August last year in Paris.
Thompson has a personal best of 9.87 and Johnson 9.95, while another American, Terrence Trammell will also challenge Greene. Hammer thrower Murofushi threw 84.86m, the third best mark of all-time and the first throw in 11 years to clear 84m - will face a tough competition against Sydney Olympic champion Szymon Ziolkowski of Poland.
The women’s 100m will be contested by American trio Torri Edwards, Chryste Gaines and Angela Daigle.
Jones Wants Round-the-Clock Protection in Athens
American sprint queen Marion Jones said in Kingston, Jamaica, she plans to use 24-hour security during this summer’s Athens Games. “I am confident that the USOC will do everything they can to protect the athletes,” said Jones, adding she had similar protection during the Sydney Olympics.
On the risk of terrorism following the recent bomb blasts in Athens, Jones said: “I am confident that if there was any threat to the athletes, the US Olympic Committee would not send its athletes. “I am just an athlete, I don’t make the decisions but if they decide that the athletes are secure, then I will be in Athens without any concerns.” Jones, who is competing in the Jamaican International meet here, reiterated that she doesn’t take banned performance enhancing supplements.
Bannister Plays Down Four-Minute Mile
In Oxford, England, Roger Bannister celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first four-minute-mile here on Thursday but insisted there were other events in his life worthy of greater respect.
“None of my athletics was my greatest achievement,” Bannister told reporters as he returned to the Iffley Road sports ground where he set his landmark exactly 50 years ago. “My medical work has been my achievement and my family, those are real achievements.”
