BOLDON YEARNING FOR A STARRING ROLE.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

Ato Boldon is fast, brash and, after joining the Reebok family earlier this month, loaded with cash.

But the former actor who played Tiny Tim in a high school production longs to be front and center on the world sprinting stage.

So far, he is a background player.

``I don't feel like people think I'm a presence like the guys that have won at a high level,'' said Boldon, a Trinidad native who just finished his senior season at UCLA. ``When I see Track and Field News and they pick me fifth in the 100 and fourth in the 200, I know I'm not a presence.

``I want to leave Atlanta as one of four or five names that (you'd hear) if somebody said, `Name the best sprinters in the world.' ''

Boldon's quest for 100-meter glory begins Friday, with the first and second round. (The semifinals and finals are Saturday evening.) To reach leading-man status, he must beat Namibia's Frankie Fredericks, Great Britain's defending Olympic champion Linford Christie and Canada's Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin, plus Americans Dennis Mitchell, Jon Drummond and Mike Marsh, a former Bruin.

``I disagreed with the notion that there will be an American sweep,'' said Boldon, 22, whose rivalry with Mitchell is one notch below boiling. ``They'll do well. They might win a medal, it could even be a gold. But with myself, Frankie and Donovan, I don't see how (a sweep) is possible.''

Boldon, who also has entered the 200, is a student of sprinting history, and Tuesday at Reebok's news headquarters he discussed two decades of 100-meter history as it pertains to his quest:

A gold medal this quadrennial would be especially sweet, this being the 20th anniversary of countryman Hasely Crawford's 100-meter victory in Montreal.

``He has given me a couple of words of advice,'' Boldon said. ``He's very important to my career, because he's the only person from Trinidad to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish. I was 2 (years old in 1976) . . . but a lot of the things I'm receiving are because of what he did.''

It's the fourth anniversary of Boldon's bomb in Barcelona. At age 18, he entered the 100 and 200 and was eliminated in the first round of both.

``It was not a very good performance, but of all the meets I've been to, that's the one I wouldn't change,'' he said. ``It was a very humbling experience. But it changed my attitude. After that, every meet seems lesser, because I can say to myself that I've already been to the biggest meet there is.''

The Boldon - Bailey - Christie - Surin quartet represents a shift in sprinting dominance away from the Americans. Ironically, it began in Seoul, site of Johnson's first place and subsequent disgrace. (Christie was second to Carl Lewis that year.) Christie won in Barcelona, with Fredericks second and Surin third.

Two lifestyle factors seem to account for the shift. One, Boldon believes, is the fat-laden American diet. The second is climate: with no winters, Caribbean children are outside year-round.

Boldon's coach, John Smith, is a Los Angeles native who attended Fremont High and UCLA (1969-72). He believes the cyclical nature of Caribbean and American sprinting success is intertwined with supply-and-demand rules that govern American scholastic sports.

When basketball, baseball and football rosters become saturated, he says, athletes turn to other outlets, like track. When roster demand rises, the next Willie Gault or Kenny Lofton grabs a bat or ball, and Caribbean sprinters step in to fill the void.

``All the Caribbean athletes that do well do so because they train, live and compete in the United States, and I'm a good example of that,'' said Boldon, who moved from Trinidad to New York with his mother in 1988. ``The gap has closed. We've seen the dominance the Americans displayed, and we adopted the American formula.''

But many Caribbean nations remain years behind in facilities, equipment and funding. For that reason Boldon began the Golden Boldon Corporation, from which needy children can receive funds for international competition and equipment.

``Some kids don't have spikes. They don't have a coach. They don't have a way to get to the stadium,'' Boldon said. ``The world is in a recession, and Trinidad is a third-world country included in that group. Morale is not good, but it would certainly be boosted by a gold medal.''

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Photo: ``I don't feel like people think I'm a presence like the guys that have won at a high level.''

- Ato Boldon