Track legend Maurice Greene recalls his iconic fire extinguisher celebration-"Two weeks before that, Shawn Crawford beat me in a race, said I got you"

Retired American Olympic champion Maurice Greene recently narrated the inspiration behind his viral fire extinguisher celebration at the Home Depot Athletic Center in 2004. Greene revealed that it came in the aftermath of a verbal altercation with Shawn Crawford.

Greene is considered one of the greatest American male sprinters and held the 100-meter world record for years. In his decorated career, the American icon secured four Olympic medals (two golds, one silver, and one bronze), five World Championship titles, and a World Indoor Championship gold.

Greene's 100m world record of 9.79 seconds set at the 1999 Athens Grand Prix lasted six years. He also held the 60m world record at 6.39 seconds, which stood for years until Christian Coleman surpassed it in 2018.

Throughout his illustrious career, the 50-year-old runner gave countless memorable moments to the fans, including a fire extinguisher celebration that he did after his win in May 2004 at the Home Depot Athletic Center in Carson, California. Maurice Greene won that race in 9.87 seconds and teamed up with Larry Wade to do an iconic fire extinguisher celebration. Narrating the story, Greene said (via The Powells podcast):

"Two weeks before the fire extinguisher happened, we were in New York, and Shawn Crawford, he beat me in a race, and I was like, God dog it, and he said, Yeah, I got you, and I was like, I see you in two weeks, cuz now gotta come to LA, but I'm telling you all I said, I gotta do something." [19:30 onwards]

"So me and my boy Larry we driving, and I'm thinking, man, what am I going to do? I gotta do something, and then I see an auto parts store, and I said I should go get a fire extinguisher, and I just pull in there real quick, and Larry is like, What are you doing? I said, Look, I'm going to get a fire extinguisher, and when I finish, you gotta come spray my shoes out, and he said, 'Oh sh*t, yeah.' So that was planned like a week and a half before," he added.

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"Never say anything is impossible" - Maurice Greene's thoughts on the chances of Usain Bolt's 100m world record being broken

Maurice Greene at the 7th IAAF World Athletics Championships (Image via Getty)

In a May interview with Citius Mag, Maurice Greene was asked if Usain Bolt's 100m record of 9.58 seconds could ever be broken. In response, he expressed that he would never dismiss the chances of it being surpassed.

"I never say anything is impossible, even when I was competing I was like it's always about breaking barriers. They said we wouldn’t be able to run 9.7, and then I was able to run 9.7. It’s about believing that you can do something impossible or believing in yourself that you are capable of doing something," he said (via Citius Mag).

After retiring from track and field in 2008, Maurice Greene took on the role of a coach at the American Leadership Academy in Gilbert, Arizona.