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Brash talking Friends will compete for 100-meter gold
By Terry Baddoo, CNNSI.com SYDNEY -- "This is the biggest stage you can be on," says Maurice Greene of the U.S. who holds the 100-meter world record. "And I like to say the bigger the stage, the better I perform." But Greene is not alone in the confidence category. "My thinking coming into these games," says Ato Boldon of Trinidad, " is I don't have to beat Maurice, he has to beat me. He knows that." They're the three Musketeers of 100-meter running. Ato Boldon, John Drummond of the United States and his countryman Maurice Greene. Friends and housemates off the track in Sydney, they are the fiercest of rivals on it. Boldon explained how he and Greene have been able to maintain their friendship amidst the competition. "I think that from the outside, the perception has always been 'How can you guys possibly compete against each other and still remain friends?' But I mean, you know, amid all the cynicism isn't that what the Olympics are all about? Leaving the competition on the playing field and being friends once it's all over? Maurice and I have always been able to separate who we are from what we do." And what they do is compete, training together under famed coach John Smith in a constantly challenging atmosphere. "When you have that sort of atmosphere every single day in practice," says Boldon, "when we come to the Olympic Games it's a question of, it's very likely whoever wins the H.S.I. race at these games is going to win. So you know it makes it a lot easier." "John Smith has been very important to me," proclaims Greene. "I mean, he has taken me from one level to a completely another level, being able to compete consistently on this level and keep getting better." Smith's talents have turned Greene in particular from a disillusioned underachiever into the world champion, world record holder and Olympic favorite. He already boasts the four best times in the world this year. "There are a lot of people who know how to sprint and run fast," says Smith. "But what (Greene) did last year in Seville, and how he finished that race, he was in trouble from the beginning, he stumbled. And he sat there and waited for an opportunity for his opponent to make a mistake, and he took advantage of that. I was impressed with that race. I've seen him perform and I've seen him run, but he took it too another level, and I think he can always do that." And having achieved everything else in the sport, the brash talking Greene is ready to step up again, in search of a victory he believes will define his career. "I believe if I don't get this gold medal, that no matter what happens in my career, I mean it wouldn't be what I want it to be," admits Greene. "I want to be known as the greatest sprinter to ever run the 100 meters in my time basically. "Not to take anything else from any other sprinters, because Carl Lewis was great in his day. So I just want to take what Carl Lewis did a step further, which I am doing. But if I don't get the gold medal, then I won't be known as that person."
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