He Ran So Fast That His Shoes Caught on Fire: Fact Check

Story: 

He ran so fast that his shoes caught on fire! LITERALLY!

Other Versions

Maurice Greene Fire Extinguisher.

Fact Check:

The video shared heavily on Facebook and other social media sites comes with the claim that athlete Maurice Green once ran so fast that his shoes caught on fire – literally – and that they needed a fire extinguisher to put it off. No, the claims as such are not facts.

The story seems to have originated from a video posted by Facebook page The Discussion (shown below) on 14 May 2016, which was later shared heavily on Facebook and also other social networking platforms.

While many people thought it could be a factual incident or some kind of commercial product advertisement, the scene portrayed in the video was actually a staged act of showmanship for the crowd and the television cameras in the Home Depot Track & Field Invitational that took place on 22 May 2004. After the Olympic champion athlete Maurice Greene crossed the finish line of 100 m running track and started celebrating, he quickly pulled off his shoes (spikes) so that the waiting aide, his training partner Larry Wade raced on to the track with a fire extinguisher to “cool” Greene’s shoes with a fire extinguisher. “My feet were burning and we had to put the fire out,” Greene told reporters after the staged incident. “I’ve got a lot more fire,” he added. ABC News website abc.net.au mentioned the incident in an article titled “Greene runs ‘scorching’ 100m“.

So the claim that the athlete Maurice Green ran so fast that his shoes caught on fire is a hoax; the incident was staged simply as a humor to keep the viewers entertained.

Hoax or Fact:

Hoax.