Runner Maurice Greene is off 'Dancing' competition

[November 12, 2008]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Maurice Greene won't be running around the "Dancing with the Stars" ballroom anymore.

The former sprinter and his professional partner, Cheryl Burke, were eliminated Tuesday from ABC's popular dancing competition. The pair received a total score of 48 out of 60 from judges for their quickstep and paso doble routines Monday. After viewer votes were combined with the judges' scores, the 34-year-old Olympic gold medalist was dismissed.

"I had a lot of fun," an upbeat Greene said after being eliminated. "I made a lot of new friends out here. I learned how to dance out here in front of millions of people every night. I had a great time."

The four remaining celebrity contestants -- model-actress Brooke Burke, singer Lance Bass, former NFL star Warren Sapp and "Hannah Montana" actor Cody Linley -- will compete in the semifinals. Linley will rejoin his professional partner, Julianne Hough, who missed two weeks of competition because of surgery to remove her appendix.

Previously dismissed were: actresses Susan Lucci and Cloris Leachman; singer Toni Braxton; chef Rocco DiSpirito; reality TV star Kim Kardashian; actor Ted McGinley and comedian Jeffrey Ross. Greene's fellow Olympian, volleyball player Misty May-Treanor, dropped out of the competition after rupturing her tendon.

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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On the Net:

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[Associated Press; By DERRIK J. LANG]

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