“I’m
working on perfection, that’s my motivation” says Maurice Greene
15 August
“The break was good and the training was good, and the second half of the season will be better than the first. Unlike before Oslo I have come over early and have had time to accustom myself to the time difference between the US and Europe and I’m ready to run here in Zurich.
All my races this summer have been technically horrible. I always aim for a complete race and that’s what has been missing this summer.
I’ve been up and down all year but then again I started so late with my training, so it’s been a hard year. Basically I looked at this (non-championship) year, as a rest year. If it had been contractually possible, I would ideally have just run no more than four or five races this whole season.
That said I’ve rested more than enough in preparation for next year. 2003 is going to be a very big year, full of pressure, so rest is important.
But I want to end this season right and in my last races in Zurich, London, Brussels, Berlin and Paris, I want to run as Maurice Greene should do normally. The closest I have come to that this season was in Rome and now I have five more chances to get back to top form.
I will also consider starting in Madrid (IAAF World Cup) but I will decide about that after Paris, only because it is essential I do not end this year tired. I must be up and ready for 2003.
Next year you are going to see a consistent 9.8 performer with the occasional dip into the 9.7’s. I’m working on perfection, that’s my motivation.
I have managed successfully to separate track from the personal part of my life, which is why the break from competition I just had was so good. Hey, I have plenty of other things in my life to distract me.
The Europeans? You don’t see much track on television in the States and so I can’t really say much about him (Dwain Chambers). All I know is every runner has his own time zone and I just have to make certain that I don’t race in that zone but run in my own (faster) zone.
Anyway I know our sport can put on a great show. When track and field is shown on television in the US I know it is highly watched, the problem is that there are just not enough meets on TV.
Zurich, it’s great, warm and sunny but I have heard about all the terrible flooding in some countries and I really hope that everything turns out well for those people.”
Maurice
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