Unbeatable players: Greene and Jones.

``Who can stop them ?``

Maurice Greene (26) and Marion Jones (27), `Man and Woman riding on bullets`, resemble each other in many aspects. Aside from their nationalities (U.S.), both are winners of Men and Women`s 100 m dashes called `Flowers of tracks` in Athena international track competition in 1997.

They both became the top sprinters and are the top candidates for 100m dash winners in 2001 international track competition (August 4 – 13, Edmonton, Canada) , which they may become three-time winners.

The man and woman, supreme sprinters, won Grand Prix competition, which was held two weeks earlier than the international track competition, which helped them prepare for the Edmonton.Greene, who is the world record holder of Men’s 100m dash (9.79 sec), ran 9 second 98 in British Grand Prix competition held in Crystal Palace, London, against the wind of 1 m/sec, beating Dwaine Chamber, hope of U.K. (10.11sec). So far, Greene showed steady good records: 9.96 sec in Osaka, Japan on May 12, 9.91 sec in Athena, Greece on June 12, 9.90 sec in Luanne, Switzerland on July 5, which may lead him to 3-time gold medal winners in Men’s 100 m dash of the international track competition.

Although he may not join Men`s 200 m dash due to his sore left knee, Greene may not face any challengers in Men’s 100 m dash. He is regarded to be one of the best sprinters from John Smith Division (Smith Sprinters’ club), sprinters` ``Academy``; good start, sputtering and finish.

His only opponent may be Tim Montgomery (U.S.), who ran 9.84 seconds in Oslo Grand Prix competition on July 14. This record is below Greene`s world record, but ties with that of Donovan Bailey (Canada), 2nd world record holder.

Meanwhile, Jones ran 11.00 seconds, beating Chandra Strup (11.15 sec, Bahama) who is her `training partner`. She continued to win 53 gold medals in a row since 1997.

Jones, three gold medallist in Sydney Olympics, showed 10.96 seconds in Golden League of Rome on June 30 and 10.84 seconds in Golden League of France, the best record of the season, continuing her `solo` competition. She is expected to win the Women`s 100 m dash without question. Recently, Jones filed a divorce from C J Hunter, a shot-put star, suffering in her private life but trying to overcome this through her trainings. As she had to stop in the middle of running due to her back pain in Women`s 200 m dash in 1999 Seviah international track competition, Jones is also looking forward to win a gold medal in this area.

Yang Jong-Koo yjongk@donga.com