AREA ATHLETES : SHOT PUT/DISCUS ENTRANT GODINA READY TO BEGIN HIS TWO-WAY PUSH.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

Track and field begins Friday at Olympic Stadium, and the first area athlete with a gold-medal chance is UCLA shot putter John Godina, who is also entered in the discus on Monday.

``I think of myself as both a shot putter and a discus thrower,'' he said. ``I really don't pick one over the other. I supposed the difference is that younger guys tend to be better shot putters, and older guys tend to be better discus throwers.

``The discus involves more finesse,'' Godina said. ``It takes more time to learn. The shot put is more emotional. I like both events, but I guess I like whichever one I'm doing best at the time.''

Right now, that would be the shot put, where Godina is a favorite. (Qualifying is Friday at 7 a.m. The final is at 6 p.m.)

``One good thing about doing both events is I don't have to work on the same event every day,'' he said. ``If I push too hard on one, I won't do well in either.

``I don't know why more people don't (try both events). It's really not that hard for me. I guess other people have their reasons.''

Reason No. 1: They aren't John Godina.

The 24-year-old from Fort Sill, Okla., won the shot put at the 1995 World Championships with his first throw. He was 10th in the discus that year - becoming the first person to finish in the top 10 in both events in the same year.

``I'm not really feeling any pressure,'' he said. ``If we are as good as we think we are, we could sweep. No disrespect meant for any other throwers. Anything could happen. But it just so happens that this year the top throwers are all in the U.S.''

Godina's top competition could come from American Randy Barnes.

Tattoo you: After a silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Games, Westlake rower Amy Fuller got the Olympic Rings tattooed on her lower, lower back, right side - and classy looking.

``My grandma was appalled,'' Fuller said, smiling. ``My mom laughed and said that when I'm 70, they'll be Olympic ovals.''

Fuller probably won't add to her collection any time soon.

``After the Olympics I want to vacation, and if you get a tattoo you can't swim for three weeks,'' she said.

All in the family: Sherman Oaks shortstop Dot Richardson has 30 aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters in Columbus, Ga., watching the U.S. softball team dominate its competition. Many of the relatives are from her native Orlando.

However, she is a little behind on news from the Valley.

``I haven't been able to hear a lot about what's going on,'' she said. ``But when I talk to people on the phone they say, `Gosh, you were on TV today.' I'm like, `Oh, that's nice.'

``Right now, I'm just focusing on the gold. The bonus from the TV appearances is the attention being drawn to the sport.''

The bats are back: After 11 runs in its previous two games, the U.S. baseball team finally got its bats in gear Wednesday against Italy. The 15-3 victory improved the Americans' record to 4-0 in pool play and was another step toward making Sunday's pool-play showdown with Cuba irrelevant.

Of the four local players, two - Simi Valley's Jeff Weaver and La Crescenta's Jim Parque, did not pitch - and a third, Chatsworth's Troy Glaus was hitless.

But USC centerfielder Jacque Jones had two hits, two RBI and a run scored. After 34 games this summer, Jones is fourth on the team with a .395 batting average.

``We haven't been hitting like we can,'' Jones said earlier this week. ``The pitchers have been doing a great job carrying us, but we need to get going, get it in gear.''

Consider it done.

Back in the ring: Oxnard welterweight Fernando Vargas, out of action since a first-round victory Saturday, returns to the ring today for a second-round bout against Romania's Marian Simion.

Not so fast: After one win she was pondering a medal, but now Pasadena table tennis player Wei Wang will concentrate on staying afloat in pool play.

She and doubles partner Lilly Yip lost a preliminary round match 21-14 and 21-11 Wednesday night to Russia's Irina Palina and Yelena Timina. The Wang-Yip tandem returns to Group F action tonight at 6 p.m.

And now, Annette: The third area swimmer competing in Atlanta makes her debut today. It's UCLA's Annette Salmeen, swimming with the 800 freestyle relay team.

Salmeen, the first woman swimmer in 24 years to qualify for the Olympics while attending UCLA, will compete solo Friday in her specialty, the 200-meter butterfly.

The relay team is racing at 6 p.m. and is favored to win the gold medal, which would make Salmeen the first area athlete to do so in Atlanta. Janet Evans, in the 800 freestyle, has first crack. She races at 4:30.

Golden mother: If UCLA sprinter Ato Boldon wins the 100 meters on Saturday, he won't keep the medal. ``My mom has all my medals,'' he said. ``I think of the days she drove me across town to get to practice, or ordered shoes from a cataloge.''

Who's on third? Here's the best example of the U.S. softball team's dominance on the mound: former Bruin Lisa Fernandez, considered one of the best all-around players in NCAA history, is being used exclusively at third base by coach Ralph Raymond.

At UCLA, Fernandez was 83-7 as a pitcher, and during the Americans' recent exhibition tour her earned run average was 0.00. But with Michele Granger, Michele Smith and incoming Bruin Christa Williams dominating - one run allowed in four games - Fernandez' arm hasn't been needed.