Champion Greene calls it quits

Former US Olympic and world champion sprinter Maurice Greene announced his retirement on Monday, citing nagging injuries.

Greene, 33, said he planned to pursue coaching and business interests in the US, but had no regrets about his athletic career.

"It's a little sad for me but it's happy at the same time because I've had a great career. I've done a lot of great things," Greene said. "For the last couple of years, I've had nagging injuries that have stropped my training. So I think it's better to just call it quits."

The Kansas City, Kansas, native has been one of the sport's dominant figures of the past decade, winning the 100m world championship in 1997, 1999 and 2001. He also won gold in the 200 and 100 relay in 1999, placing him alongside Tyson Gay and Carl Lewis as one of only three men to win triple gold.

Greene took the 100m gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics while anchoring the victorious men's 100m relay team. He still holds the indoor 60 meter world record 6.39 seconds, although his last wins on tour came in the 2004 season.

Greene made the announcement in Beijing where he was touring facilities for this summer's Olympic Games.

He acknowledged concerns among track and field athletes over the Chinese capital's poor air quality, but said that shouldn't be a barrier to victory.

"Every athlete who is coming here is going to be going for a gold medal. And they can't let anything get in their way," Greene said.

"Every athlete is going to have to deal with air pollution," he said. "You've got to bust the door down and take what you want."

Agencies

(China Daily 02/05/2008 page24)