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Savvy sprinter America's Greene lacks no confidence
By Nick Charles, CNNSI.com
SYDNEY-- Maurice Greene is not only the world's fastest man, he's the biggest trash talker at the Olympics. The world record holder at 100 meters is dead set on nothing less than a gold medal, but in the meantime the "Kansas Comet's" rapid fire routine has drawn a captive audience in Sydney. The world's fastest man has actually slowed down enough to be spotted at the beach, that is when he isn't driving his Ferrari around Sydney. Wednesday he drew a crowd of media and promised a tantalizing steady buildup to a performance we'll never forget. "The first round I am going to take it as easy as possible," Greene says. "The second, third and fourth, I'm going to let it hang." He loves to talk the talk because he considers it a crucial tool in unnerving the rest of the competition. His coach, John Smith, figures that if being brash helps make Greene the blinding force he is, then let him talk.
Underneath it all is a driven athlete. "I don't try to control anything," admits Smith. "I just try and manage. If that is what he needs to get himself prepared, than that's what he needs." Of his coach, Greene talks only words of praise. "He has taken me from one level to completely another level and (made it possible for me) to be able to compete consistently on this level and keep getting better." Greene has blazed to the four fastest times this year, but he hasn't batted a thousand. Two British sprinters have beaten Greene this year and think they can beat him again. "You think so?" laughs Greene. "Good luck!" In other words, you can tug at Superman's cape but only at your own peril. Greene says the bigger the stage the better he'll perform. "I am going to win," Green proclaims. "That is what I am going to do. I came here to win a gold medal in the 100 meters and that's what I plan on getting." Greene says that to be number one in the world, you have to train like you are number two. Based on that philosophy, we shouldn't be surprised at reports that have leaked out of his training camp that Greene has smashed his world record of 9.79 several times. Practice, after all, does make perfect.
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