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Maurice Greene has finally recounted about the story of his famous fire extingisher celebration from back in 2004.
American sprinting legend Maurice Greene has finally opened up about the inspiration behind his famous fire extinguisher celebration.
Greene, a former world record holder in the 100 meters with a time of 9.79 seconds, dominated the track during the peak of his career, earning four Olympic medals and five World Championship titles.
However, beyond his accolades, one moment continues to stand out – the fire extinguisher celebration following his wind-aided 9.78-second race in May 2004.
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The idea for the celebration was born during a casual conversation between Greene and his training partner, hurdler Larry Wade, as they drove through Los Angeles just days before the race. Speaking on Asafa Powell's The Powells YouTube channel, Greene recounted the story.
“Two weeks before the fire extinguisher happened, we were in New York, and Shawn Crawford beat me, and I was like, ‘Dog, he got me,’ and I was like, ‘I will see you in two weeks, cause you coming to L.A. I was like, I gotta do something because I lived in L.A.’”
As they were driving, Greene had a sudden inspiration. “So me and my boy, we driving, and I am thinking like, ‘I gotta do something that is just going to be it,’ then I saw an autopart store, and I said, ‘I should go get a fire extinguisher.’”
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Greene didn’t hesitate, pulling into the hardware store despite the infamous Los Angeles traffic. He shared the idea with Wade, who immediately agreed to help. “I said, ‘Look, I will buy a fire extinguisher, and when I finish, you gotta come spray my shoes out,’ and he said, ‘Oh, shit! Yeah!’”
The plan was simple but audacious. However, Greene knew he had to back up the spectacle with speed.
“Obviously, you cannot run 10.0s and 10.1s and do that. You gotta run fast,” Greene admitted. And run fast he did. On May 22, 2004, at the Home Depot Athletic Center in Carson, California, Greene crossed the finish line of the 100-meter dash in 9.87 seconds, later adjusted to 9.86 seconds due to the wind reading of +4.6 meters per second.
Initially, Greene had forgotten about the fire extinguisher plan. “I actually forgot that because if you look into the video, I finish and I start coming back, then I look to the side and see Larry coming back, and then I start hopping and everything, and then as soon as I took them off, he did it.”
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Wade, who had run the 110-meter hurdles that day, played his part perfectly. After winning his race in 13.12 seconds, Wade grabbed the fire extinguisher and waited for Greene to cross the line. “I could barely believe that no one even tried to stop me,” Wade recalled.
As Greene removed his shoes, Wade unleashed the spray, covering the blue Adidas spikes in a cloud of dust. Greene hopped away, his shoes seemingly ablaze, as Wade waved the extinguisher over them for about 10 seconds, ensuring they were "put out."
The celebration became an instant classic, forever etched in track and field history. Greene reflected on its impact, saying, “The problem with that is, after you do that, you cannot do anything else cause everyone is like, it wasn't as good as this.”
Years later, the iconic moment still resonates with fans. “They still playing it today. I see kids coming up to me and saying, ‘I see your video.’”
“It is just one person that I refused to let beat me. I do not care what it was. You all say it was off the track but I do not care who this person was, I would never let him beat me and that actually went through my mind.
“I pulled my quad 65 meters into that race and I was like ‘This gonna come off’. I ran my leg all the way through and I ran 9.80, I was like ‘God’ I wonder what that race would have been (if I stayed fit’.
"I don’t know what it would have been, but it would have been crazy.”
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