Maurice Greene

“It's a mental battle trying to come back from injuries and I don't feel like having that mental battle with myself.”

“You have to know this: running a 100m race is an intense experience. You have a lot of emotion at the end of the race. It is not easy to control that when you win.”

“When the gun fires you must concentrate for every second on the way to that finish line. You should know exactly how long it will take you to and think about every step of the race you are about to run.”

“I love running in Europe, man, running at places like Zurich and Crystal Palace where the crowd is so knowledgeable and appreciative.”

“You'd like more people to recognise what you do is special. But I take the attitude that the best thing I can do for my sport is to be the best at it. The best way people will come to recognise that track and field is a great sport is to see athletes excelling at it. Which is what I intend to do.”

“The world record will come to me when I run the world record race. I'm just trying to perfect my race. I'm looking for perfection.”

“To be number one, you must train like you are number two.”

“If you do not train hard you will never fulfill your potential.”

“Among the world elite there are a handful of athletes who are physically capable of winning it.”

“I don't think about second or third place.”

“Athens is a great place for me. It is my second home. It's where I won my first world championship medal, it's where I set my world record.”

“You'd like more people to recognise what you do is special. But I take the attitude that the best thing I can do for my sport is to be the best at it. The best way people will come to recognise that track and field is a great sport is to see athletes excelling at it.”

“I have a God-given talent and I work very hard for what I do. Anybody can run fast. It's how you run fast. I pay attention to technical things now.”

“Every race is not perfect; there are obviously a lot of things I can improve on at the end of the race.”

“Weather is uncontrollable. Only the Lord above can control the weather. Whatever we get, we have to work with.”

“You have a lot of emotion at the end of the race. It is not easy to control that when you win.”

“My stance has always been that there's no place in our sport for drug users. I've always said it's a ban for life if you come up positive. I stand by that.”

“I've had bad jobs. Now I have a good one. I'm thankful.”

“You have got to believe in yourself every time you go out there and race. If you have no faith in your ability all that training has been a waste of time.”

“It is only those who believe in their ability who shine when it matters.”