High-jinks descend into a dust-up

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Boys just wanna have fun, too.

But loud-mouth American sprinters caused a kerfuffle with high-jinks on the medal podium that were more memorable than their efforts on the track.

Lead by chief larrikin and fastest man in the world Maurice Greene, the US 4 x 100m relay team struck bare-chested poses immediately after they won, then clowned around with their medals on the victory dais.

Some thought the comic quartet's show was hilarious, but the laughing stopped when serious-minded American journalists accused them of being disrespectful and became embroiled in a full-scale row that looked set to end in blows.

Within minutes of crossing the line just a whisker short of the world record - Brazil and Cuba were gasping behind in second and third - the Americans let it all hang out, stripping off their tops and slipping on US flags for capes, then jiving around the Olympic Stadium.

Any camera became an opportunity for a body building pose or a silly face. The show spilled on to the dais where a sombre former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger presented them with new props - gold medals.

Medals are supposed to rest around the chest in a dignified fashion, right? Not for these boys. Over their eyes, balanced on their noses - the medals went everywhere.

Then, at that most sacred part of the ceremony - the anthem and the raising of the flag - they whooped and carried on.

Good on them, it was their party - at least that's what they thought.

Not everyone agreed.

At a post-ceremony press conference on Sunday, the team swooped in full of bravado and song, rapping on the microphones like no other medal winners had before. Enough, already, screamed a member of the American press crew, hardly a pack of shrinking violets themselves.

"Don't you think your posturing and actions on the podium were offensive?" he asked.

Jon Drummond, who ran the first leg, was quick out of the blocks: "Look, I've never won an Olympic gold before. I'm sorry."

Greene followed up lickety-split: "I don't think we offended anybody. What did we do? Tell me, were you offended?" The journalist said yes, and the team went berserk.

Drummond: "We had so much emotion bottled up that ... once we won the race, it was over and we had the chance to exhale. This was our opportunity to enjoy the moment.

"How do you think we felt when I was asked about drugs by one of you guys after the race? I thought that was rude and unnecessary. I was offended by that."

Greene: "We're not cocky Americans. We respect our opponents."

Some reporters were not convinced. The Brazilian team, sitting meekly alongside throughout this slag-fest were asked what they thought of it all.

"When we finally get down to running, it's our time," said Brazil's Claudinei da Silva.

"As to the US being arrogant or not, I think that if Brazil had won this gold medal, we would have maybe partied even harder, singing and jumping all over the place, letting all the emotion out."

The Bahamas women's 4x100m team, which really did have something to skite about, were humble in victory over the Jamaicans and the hot favourites America - anchored by some woman called Marion Jones.

Even Pauline Davis-Thompson, the veteran Bahamas sprinter who earlier in the week teased Jones that her team was going to steal the 4 x 100m gold, was modest - even by her standards.

"I told you guys we were going to do it, now we should earn some respect," said Davis-Thompson who came to her fifth Olympics without a medal and left Sydney with a relay gold and a 200m silver.

The blistering runs of the Bahamas and Jamaicans underlined the strength of Caribbean sprinting at the Games.

Eight of the 19 medals on offer in the men's and women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m races, went to the islands in the sun.

Merlene Ottey, the legendary Jamaican runner and 4x100m silver medallist, said there should be spin-offs for the Caribbean.

"It shows that people should start paying attention and put more money and meetings into the Caribbean," she said.

Maybe they could get Greene and co to be their cheer squad. Now that would get some attention.