His achievement was made all the greater by a long-standing knee injury and a problem with his left quad that hindered him during the race.

He was grimacing as early as 60m, and limped his way to a standstill after crossing the line.

Tim Montgomery, the fastest man in the world this year until Sunday, closed in as they approached the line, but Greene managed to hold him off.

Greene said: "I knew it was going to be tough. I knew they weren't going to let me win with ease. I felt very good today."

But he made light of the injury.

"I felt something in my quad and then in my hamstring, but will go and get it checked out and hope I'm ready for the relay."

Clean sweep for the USA

"No-one is going to give you the gold medal. You have to come out here and fight for it. You have to be willing to die for it.

"I'm just thankful I was able to finish the race the way I did."

His arch-rival Donovan Bailey, who did not qualify for the final, said Greene's performance was "very impressive considering his injury".

Montgomery was second, with Bernard Williams third to make it a clean sweep of the medals for the USA.