GLASGOW, Scotland -- Maurice Greene finished second to Mark
Lewis-Francis in the 100 meters at the Norwich Union Grand Prix on
Sunday.
Lewis-Francis won in 10.43 seconds in breezy, overcast
conditions. Greene finished in 10.44, with Briton Jason Gardener
third in 10.50. Lewis-Francis also edged Greene in the final leg of
the 400 relay at the Athens Olympics to lead Britain to a surprise
gold medal.
Greene joked about Sunday's close finish.
"Man, I want to see that photo," he said. "I knew it was
close. I thought I had him at the Olympics. I thought I had him
today, too."
The meet featured athletes from Britain, Russia and the United
States. Other American winners included John Capel in the 200,
Dwight Phillips in the long jump, Erin Gilreath in the hammer throw
and Allyson Felix in the 400.
Lewis-Francis was stripped May 13 of the 60-meter silver medal
he won at the European Indoor Championships in March after testing
positive for marijuana, a drug he said he passively ingested.
"It's been a difficult couple of weeks but I'm a positive
person and I stayed focused," he said. "This is the year that I
put my mark down."
Greene brushed aside the possibility of getting back his world
record. Tim Montgomery could be stripped of the world record of
9.78 he set in September 2002.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is seeking to ban Montgomery from
competition for life based on secret documents the U.S. Senate
obtained last year from the BALCO drug investigation and then
forwarded to the doping agency.
Montgomery is challenging USADA's recommendation before the
Court of Arbitration for Sport during a closed-door hearing that
starts Monday in San Francisco.
"I'll get it (the world record) back later this year anyway,"
Greene said. "It doesn't matter to me, only if I run faster than I
ever have before. That's the only thing that counts."
A three-time world champion in the 100, Greene won the 100 in
the 2000 Olympics but finished third in Athens.
Felix ran a personal-best in the 400 (51.12), her first race
over the distance this season.
"I would have liked to come home a little faster, we had
planned to, but didn't expect it to be so cold," said Felix of the
57 degree temperature.
The 19-year-old Felix said the 400 was only a training exercise
for the 200, in which she won silver in Athens.
Gilreath upset Olympic champion Olga Kuzenkova in the hammer
throw. The American won with a season best of 234 feet, 6 inches.
Kuzenkova threw 228-6.
Capel won the 200 in 21.04.
Olympic champion Dwight Phillips won the long jump in 27-1\ for
a stadium record. Other U.S. winners included Michelle Perry in the
100 hurdles and Kenneth Ferguson in the 400 hurdles.
British double-Olympic gold medalist Kelly Holmes comfortably
won the 1,500 against a weak field. Holmes is expected to retire
after this season.
Russian Yaroslav Rybakov won the high jump. American Jamie Nieto
was second and fellow American and Olympic silver medalist Matt
Hemingway was third.
Russian Olga Fyodorova, a silver medalist in the 400 relay in
Athens, won the women's 100 in 11.63.