Champ Greene promises to run under 10 seconds
Champ Greene promises to run under 10 seconds
JAKARTA (JP): World 100 meters champion Maurice Greene of the
United States has promised to time less than 10 seconds at the
Bob Hasan Invitational Meet at the Madya Stadium, Senayan which
starts today.
"I cannot say whether I can create a world record but I am
confident that I could run less than 10 seconds," Greene said
Thursday.
Greene said it would be difficult to achieve a peak
performance as he did at this year's world athletics championship
in Athens, Greece.
During the world championships, Greene clocked 9.86 seconds.
Greene further said that he never sees his opponents in any
race.
"In any race, I only think of myself to run as fast as
possible."
Greene is here at the invitation of Bob Hasan, chairman of the
Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI).
Before coming to Jakarta for the meet, Greene took part in the
Grand Prix athletics in Fukoka, Japan.
The 23-year-old racer has been a world class runner since 1986
through his trainer John Smith who has also trained other top
racers like Ato Boldon, John Drummond and Marie Jose Perec.
In today's race, Greene will compete against sprinters Michael
Greene of Jamaica, his countryman Vincent Henderson, Mohammad
Yusuf of Singapore and local runners.
Indonesian sprinters competing in the 100-meter race include
Agustinus Ngamel, Yanes Raubaba, Erwin Heru, Ricky Yusuf and
Subakir.
Yusuf is using this event as preparation for the coming 19th
SEA Games.
The invitational meet has also attracted top men and women
runners Roger Kingdom of USA, Silke Renke, Melanie Pasohe, Beat
Gummelt (Germany), Katie Anderson (Canada), Svein Peiters
(Belgium), Nick Buckfield (Britain) and Shane Haley (Ireland).
A total of 30 racers, both foreign and local, will compete at
the invitational meet.
Meanwhile, Emma George of Australia, the world pole vault
record holder, promised her best performance.
"I will try to break my own world record of 4.45 meters. I am
grateful of being invited and therefore will show by best
performance," she said.
Emma started her career in pole vault in 1995 after being
trained by Mark Stewart.
She became the Australian champion recording 3.40 meters. She
continued improving on the record after she passed 4.28 meters at
the Fruit and Veg Classic in Perth.
In the middle of this year, Emma competed overseas and showed
progress with a world record of 4.45 meters, defeating Stancey
Dragilla of the USA.
Yesterday saw races for local sprinters who were vying for a
total cash prize of Rp 1 billion.
Four former local sprinters as well as four sports officials
received rewards from PASI yesterday.
The sprinters were M. Sarengat, Purnomo M. Yudhi, Mardi
Lestari and Carolina Riupassa while the sports officials were
Soerono, Soeweno, Sugiharto and Sayidiman Kartohadiprodjo.
Soerono is a former KONI chairman, Soeweno is a former KONI
deputy chairman, while Sugiharto and Sayidiman are former PASI
chairmen. (lnt)