Maurice Greene, the fastest man on the planet, is looking for £88,000 to attend the premier athletics meetings around Europe this season, the same amount as Marian Jones.

Given that Greene covers 100 metres in under 10 seconds, it makes him the best paid man on earth on an hourly rate: roughly £32 million an hour. Jones, who covers the same distance a little more slowly, earns a paltry £25.8 million an hour for her time.