YOKOHAMA, Japan, 22 September 2004 — Maurice Greene and Justin Gatlin, former and current Olympic 100-meter champions, will face each other again in a season-ending event at the Yokohama track and field meet tomorrow.

Former world 100m record holder Greene defeated Gatlin by one hundredth of a second in the US Trials for the Athens Olympics in July in 9.91, but failed to defend the Olympic title, finishing third in 9.87.

Gatlin, the winner of the 100m with the season’s fastest time of 9.85, also took the bronze medal in the 200m and joined hands with Greene to take the silver in the 4x100m relay in Athens.

“The young guys are coming but I am not done yet. I am still coming back. I am still the greatest in the world,” said a defiant Greene, 30, after the defeat.

“When you look at the things that I’ve achieved, I’m making it difficult for the next person to come along and do what I did,” added the three-time world champion.

Gatlin retorted: “Maurice is one of the greatest competitors in the world. However this is a new era, the young guys are coming.”

In Yokohama, they will face challenges from Atlanta Olympic silver medalist Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, fellow American Leonard Scott, Australia’s Patrick Johnson and Japan’s Nobuharu Asahara.

Japan’s Shingo Suetsugu, the world 200m bronze medalist, withdrew with an injury along with two Olympic champions, men’s 400m hurdler Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic and women’s 100m winner Yuliya Nesterenko of Belarus.

A total of eight gold medalists from the Athens Olympics as well as three champions from the Sydney, Atlanta and Barcelona Games will take part in the event at Yokohama stadium.

Chinese star Liu Xiang, who tied the world record of 12.91 in the men’s 110m hurdles at Athens to become the first-ever Olympic champion from Asia in a track event, will face four-time US world champion Allen Johnson.

Athens gold medalist Koji Murofushi carries the best local hope in the men’s hammer throw against Ivan Tikhon of Belarus, the holder of the season’s best throw of 84.46.

Nesterenko’s withdrawal leaves the women’s 100m to Sydney Olympic bronze medalist Tayna Lawrence of Jamaica, Asian champion Lyubov Perepelova of Uzbekistan and American Tayna Lawrence.

Other Olympic champions to compete here include Timothy Mack of the United States (pole vault) in the men’s events, and Russia’s Yelena Slesarenko (high jump), Tatyana Lebedeva (long jump) and Olga Kuzenkova (hammer) in the women’s.

Otis Harris of the winning US 4x400m team will run in the 200m race for which he took the silver in Athens.

The organizers plan to hold a special ceremony for Fredericks, Barcelona and Sydney Olympic long jump champion Heike Drechsler of Germany, and 1999 world high jump champion Inha Babakova of Ukraine, who have announced their retirement after the season.

Kenteris Coach Denies BALCO Connection

Disgraced Greek sprinter Kostadinos Kenteris’ coach, meanwhile, has denied any links with an international drug ring allegedly run by US laboratory BALCO.

“I have not the slightest relation with them. I don’t know anybody from BALCO,” Christos Tzekos told reporters in Athens.

Tzekos was speaking after a four-hour testimony to Athens prosecutors investigating the withdrawal of Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou from last month’s Athens Olympics.

The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), is accused of distributing illegal performance enhancing drugs — including the once-undetectable steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

An investigation by US tax authority IRS into BALCO has unearthed an e-mail by the company’s owner Victor Conte, saying the coach of the two Greek athletes must be warned that anti-doping officials could test for a previously undetected substance.

The athletes’ names have been blanked out of the copy of an IRS official’s affidavit that was leaked to the press and published on the Internet.

Greek prosecutors have been in touch with the US authorities over Tzekos’ alleged BALCO links. Kenteris and Thanou withdrew from the Olympics five days after missing a doping test on the eve of the Games on Aug. 12 and being hospitalized after a mysterious motorbike accident.

A Greek forensic surgeon has said the accident could have been faked. Kenteris, the 2000 Sydney Olympic 200 meter champion, and Thanou, women’s 100m silver medalist in Sydney, withdrew from the Games after telling the International Olympic Committee (IOC) they were clean.

Tzekos is also suspected of illegally importing and

distributing banned performance-enhancing substances in Greece through his nutritional supplement business.