Maurice Greene, the "Kansas Cannonball", lived up to his nickname in the Olympic Stadium in Athens last night when he smashed the world record for the 100 metres.

On the track where the American claimed the world title two years ago and which will stage the 2004 Olympics, he clocked a phenomenal 9.79 seconds.

It is a time which has a special place in the record books as it equals the mark of Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul before the Canadian was exposed as a drugs cheat and his time expunged.

The 24-year-old Greene was originally credited with a time of 9.78 by the track officials, but it was later confirmed at 9.79. That still took an incredible 0.05 seconds off the 9.84 Canada's Donovan Bailey ran when he set the previous record, winning the Olympic title in Atlanta three years ago.

It is the biggest single improvement in the event's history since electronic timing was introduced in 1968. But Greene is confident he has only just begun pushing back the boundaries. "I expected it," he said. "This is only the start. I believe that 9.79 is easy, but 9.76 is a challenge."

Greene's training partner, Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, finished second in 9.86 and Bruny Surin of Canada third on 9.97.

Greene put his success last night down to the fact he had not been chasing the record. "I can't run after it, and that was the mistake I was making last year," Greene said. "Every time I stepped on the track I was running after the world record. I wasn't running my race to get the world record."

Trained by John Smith, Greene had declared himself the future of track and field in the United States. "I don't want to be the next Carl Lewis. I want to be Maurice Greene and make a mark for myself."

He has certainly done that.