Orlando Greene is an Olympic runner from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

who raced in the 1976 summer Olympic games in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

History

Greene was born into poverty in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...

, on the Caribbean island of Barbados, where at a very early age he made a name for himself as a

cricket player Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. After winning in sprints, he soon found his true expertise in the longer distances of 400 and

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

. He attended

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

, setting school records in the 1600 metres and winning the 1973 NCAA championship in that event. In 1976 he set the Barbadian record for the 800 in Philadelphia. In that year he also competed in the 400 and 800 metres in Montréal. Greene retired from running in 1980 and began coaching track athletes throughout the Caribbean, including coaching the Barbados Olympic team in 1984. He played a significant role in the development of Olympians Andrea Blackett and

Obadele Thompson Obadele "Oba" Thompson BSS (born 30 March 1976) is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados's first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olymp ...

. In the 1980s, Greene emigrated to the United States. He currently lives in

Lithia, Florida Lithia is an unincorporated community in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Tampa. The ZIP codes are 33547, 33596, and the area code is 813. It is part of the census-designated place (CDP) of Fish Hawk. Lithia is hom ...

where he has served as track and cross-country coach at

Joe E. Newsome High School Joe E. Newsome High School is a public high school that was established in 2003 on Fishhawk Boulevard in Lithia, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Joe E. Newsome, a Plant City pharmacist and businessman who served as a board membe ...

. His teams frequently have far greater participation rates than other schools. He is given credit for helping athletes push themselves to their limits, even to the point of crawling to the finish line, as Lars Benner (University of Tampa) did in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Orlando 1953 births Living people Barbadian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Barbados Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Seton Hall Pirates men's track and field athletes Barbadian expatriates in the United States Sportspeople from Bridgetown Barbadian male middle-distance runners