Maurice Greene: The 100m gold medallist plagued with injuries and drug scandals

From working at food outlets and emptying trucks, USA sprinter Maurice Greene became the greatest sprinter on the planet for a period between 1997 and 2001, winning multiple gold medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Greene won three successive World Championship gold medals, winning in Athens 1997, Sevilla 1999, and Edmonton 2001. In 1999, he set the 100m world record at 9.84 seconds.

According to the Olympic website, he is the only sprinter to hold the 60 and 100m world records at the same time, recording a time of 6.39 seconds – a record that still stands to this day.

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At the 1999 World Championships, Greene became the first sprinter to win 100 and 200m gold medals, but he didn't feature in the 200m at the 2000 Olympic Games because of an injury in the US trials.

The 2000 Olympics is where Greene made a name for himself on the global stage. He crossed the line with a time of 9.87 in the 100m final, securing his first Olympic gold. A few days later, he anchored the US 4x100m relay team to gold with a time of 37.61 seconds.

According to the BBC, Greene had an injury-ravaged end to his career in athletics, suffering a fractured leg in 2001 from a motorcycle injury, a calf muscle injury in 2002, and multiple quadricep and hamstring injuries across his career.

Remarkably, Greene won the 2001 World Championship 100m after suffering from a hamstring injury during the race, recording a time of 9.82. He returned for one final shot at Olympic glory in 2004, winning a bronze in the 100m and a silver in the 4x100m.

At the age of 33 in 2008, Greene announced his retirement from athletics. The Reuters website reports he said: "It's a mental battle trying to come back from injuries, and I don't feel like having that mental battle with myself."

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Greene raced in the same era as Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones, both convicted of cheating and taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Montgomery beat Greene's 100m world record in 2002, but it was subsequently rescinded when he was caught.

In 2008, the New York Times reported that Greene had paid Mexican discus thrower Angel Guillermo Heredia $10,000, which Heredia claimed was for PEDs. Greene admitted he had met Heredia but said it was common for him to pay for "stuff" for his training group.

Greene reiterated his strong stance against PEDs, with the International Association of Athletics Federations also backing Greene. The US sprinter has never failed a drug test and was quickly acquitted of the allegations.

Since his retirement, Greene has made multiple television appearances, including an appearance on 'Dancing with the Stars.' He has coached Nigeria's relay teams and now coaches at the American Leadership Academy in Kansas City.

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