A week after his triumph in the blue riband 100 metres, Greene returned to the Olympic stadium to anchor the powerful American quartet to victory in 37 minutes 61 seconds -- the fastest time this year.
The conditions were perfect on a mild, still evening but Jon Drummond, Bernard Lewis, Brian Lewis and Greene could not threaten the world record 37.40 set by the United States foursome when they won the 1992 Olympic final in Barcelona.
They nevertheless clocked the fifth best time in history, only Americans have run faster than they did on Saturday.
The U.S. team also avenged defeat by Canada four years ago. The Canadians, who beat the Americans into second place in Atlanta, failed to make the final this time.
"I've always said I wanted to bring United States sprinting back on top," Greene said proudly. "Now the relay gold is back in the United States."
Greene had planned to chase three golds in Australia but he missed selection for the 200 metres when he pulled up injured at the U.S. trials last July.
He seemed happy enough with just two, draping himself with the American flag to embark on a lap of honour while his teammates pleased the crowd, leaning down on one knee and flexing their muscles in body-building style.
The fastest man in the world's raw speed was needed to shrug off a spirited challenge from Brazil, who were virtually level with the Americans when he received the baton from Lewis.
The Brazilians settled for silver in a national record 37.90 with Cuba winning bronze in 38.04.
"I just brought it home," said Greene. "The other guys made the cake and I put the icing on it."
Team work, Greene said, was the key to the Americans' expected victory.
"We had six guys out there and we worked closely together and got the job done."
Greene said he still hoped to add the 4x100 relay world record to his best mark of 9.79 for the 100 metres he set last year in Athens.
"We can't stop now," he said. "We've got to keep going on, keep getting better and keep going faster. That's what we plan to do."
30/Sep/2000
