Greene party time

There were tears in Maurice Greene's eyes here last night, just as there were at the Olympics in Atlanta four years ago. The difference this time was they were not tears of frustration, but tears of joy. In 1996, after failing to qualify for the US team, Greene sat in the stands and watched as Canada's Donovan Bailey claimed the 100 metres title.

Greene can now justifiably claim the title of the world's fastest man after sprinting to an imperious victory before a thrilled capacity crowd of 110,000. The American came into the Games as favourite and lived up to his billing with a blistering 9.87sec performance that was as golden as the shoes on his feet.

Greene's training partner and great friend Ato Boldon, of Trinidad, was second in 9.99 with Obadele Thompson of Barbados edging out Dwain Chambers for bronze in 10.04 with the Briton clocking 10.08. The European champion Darren Campbell, the second British representative in the final, finished sixth in 10.19.

'This was a race Maurice would have to give away for anybody else to have a chance,' Boldon said. 'Maurice just destroyed us out there.'

Greene was never in danger as he started strongly and powered to the halfway mark with his eyes focused only on the track just in front of him.

As he crossed the line he spread his arms and looked to the sky, shouting, 'Thank you, Lord!' before joining Boldon to kneel together for a post-race prayer. Greene then set off on a joyous lap of honour, stopping only to toss one of his stars and stripes shoes decorated with gold spikes into the crowd which, appropriately, a Sydney jeweller caught.

Greene's joy was understandable as he now has the complete set of sprinting accolades, including the world record, a collection that not even the great Carl Lewis could match at his peak. He is now Olympic champion, world record holder at 9.79 and has back-to-back world titles at 100m as well as the current world title at 200.

Add the indoor world 60m title, indoor world records at 50 and 60m and a world championship gold at 4x100m relay and you can see why last night the 26-year-old was being hailed here as the greatest sprinter in history.

When he received his medal from International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, there were again tears in his eyes.

'I remember crying in Atlanta,' Greene said. 'You work four years for something that's only going to last nine seconds. It's hard to do. I'm overjoyed and overwhelmed.'

Failure to make Atlanta was the catalyst for this success. After that crushing disappointment, he loaded all his belongings in his battered old car and drove 24 hours from Kansas City to Los Angeles where he presented himself at the door of master coach John Smith. Smith, the coach to 1992 Olympic champions Quincy Watts and Kevin Young and the 1996 double gold medallist Marie-Jose Perec as well as Boldon, was reluctant to take Greene on. He questioned his heart and used to reduce him to tears in training sessions to test his mettle.

It was only thanks to the encouragement of Boldon that Greene stuck at it. Boldon even lent him money on one occasion because he was on the verge of returning to his former job in a fast food restaurant.

After the final, Greene paid a special tribute to Smith. 'I felt that my coach should have got an Olympic gold and he has a big hole in his heart where that should be,' he said referring to the 1972 Games in which Smith, favourite to win the 440 yards, missed out on the final after picking up an injury.

'I can't fill it for him - there is nothing like winning gold in the Olympics - but I can put a little back in there.'

Greene now drives a Mercedes with a personalised number plate and last night's victory earned him an estimated $1 million in bonuses from his sponsors and he can expect to treble that figure on the European grand prix circuit next year. But it was never easy.

'This week was very tough for me. It might have looked like I was very loose but I was very, very nervous.

'It was hard to eat, hard to sleep_

'I came here very focused, was concentrating solely on my race because I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I wasn't going to come here and they were just going to give me the gold medal. Ato is a very tough competitor and when we race against each other, I mean, I have to be at my best otherwise I will lose.'

Chambers thought he had secured the bronze until a few strides from the line when Thompson pipped him. He was so disappointed that he ran straight off the track, past the television cameras and packs of journalists without talking and straight onto a waiting bus back to the athletes village.

But a man who just two months ago was so disappointed at his form that he considered quitting for the season should not feel bad about finishing fourth on the biggest stage of all. 'He should be happy,' said Mike McFarlane, Chambers' coach.