JOYNER-KERSEE: ONE LAST HURRAH : FIRE BURNS FOR OLYMPIC GOLD.

Byline: Michael Ventre Daily News Staff Writer

At the House of Blues, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is comfortably cool. So is everyone else. The place radiates cool.

Long-legged, elegant, striking, she glides through the corridors of the trendy music mecca as the guest of honor. Even the eyes of John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and John Mayall seem to follow her from their wall plaques.

This is a night like no other. The House of Blues is launching its sports marketing arm. Jackie Joyner-Kersee has been chosen as a symbol of excellence, of grace and beauty, of honor and distinction. On this night at the House of Blues, she is the coolest of the cool.

She needs to remember this night when mopping her brow, or chugging yet another pint of a mineral-rich sports concoction, or searching desperately for shade. Because even if you're Jackie Joyner-Kersee, it is particularly challenging to keep your cool when the mercury climbs toward 100 and the humidity is only a stride in arrears of that.

Training in L.A. is hot. Competing in Georgia in July is like being trapped overnight in a sauna.

``After about two or three hours, the heat gets to you,'' she admitted. ``You have to drink lots of water.''

Joyner-Kersee, who lives in Canoga Park, is on her way to Atlanta for yet another Olympics. She is as much a fixture there now as the torch. Until the Olympic trails last month, when she competed with injuries, she had not lost a completed heptathlon since she won the silver medal in L.A. back in 1984. She currently holds the world record in the heptathlon and the American record in the long jump. She is vying for her third straight gold medal in the heptathlon. (She also won gold and set an Olympic record in the long jump in 1988.)

But that heat. Oh, that heat.

In a way, it might help. ``We're really not worried,'' said her coach, confidant, guru and husband, Bob Kersee. ``She's asthmatic, so the humidity will actually do her well. We'll just make sure to keep her hydrated.''

Joyner-Kersee used to train at Cal State Northridge. She has since moved her training to Westwood and UCLA.

She's easy to spot. A tall, lithe figure in sunglasses underneath an umbrella, sipping on liquid. In between respites, she feels the loving wrath of Bob, who leeches off Jackie in a good way: She gives off competitive juices by the vat, and he soaks them in and channels them toward Olympic gold.

It is a symbiosis that has existed officially since they were wed in 1986 and unofficially well before that, shortly after the time Jackie came to UCLA and Bob was an assistant track coach.

He drives her lovingly. His is tough love in athletic terms; he is track's version of Vince Lombardi. The relationship has prospered. Now at age 34, and he 10 years her senior, they are prepping for one final hurdle.

With Florence Griffith-Joyner, her sister-in-law, officially out of the Atlanta Games, Jackie Joyner-Kersee might have the headlines to herself.

She doesn't care. That isn't why she competes.

``She absolutely loves the sport,'' Bob Kersee explains. ``She's an athlete first and a celebrity second. She's not going around worrying about being considered the greatest female athlete. She simply enjoys the arena of competition.''

Joyner-Kersee sits in the middle of the crowded Green Room, where the beautiful people schmooze at the House of Blues. Cameras, lights, reporters, well-wishers crowd the cramped space. They all want a piece of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who keeps her cool while those around her are losing theirs.

``I challenge myself continually to set goals and to reach them,'' she declares matter-of-factly, with zero trace of ego. ``My motivation comes from within.''

That's where the fire burns, hot as blazes.

PROFILE Age: 34

College: UCLA

Of interest: Joyner-Kersee turned down a track scholarship to UCLA in favor of one for basketball. She was a four-year starter at forward, she earned All-America honors.

When to Watch HEPTATHLON: July 27 - 100 hurdles, 6:15 a.m.; high jump 7:30 a.m., shot put 2:30 p.m., 200 meters 5:15 p.m. July 28 - Long jump 7 a.m., javelin throw 3:25 p.m., 800 meters 7 p.m.

LONG JUMP: Rinals - July 30, 7:15 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, 2 Boxes

Photo: (1) World-record holder Jackie Joyner-Ke rsee will vie for her third consecutive heptathlon gold medal in Atlanta.

Daily News File Photo

(2) Jackie Joyner-Kersee

(3-4) THROUGH THE YEARS

1980: At 18, finishes eighth in the Olympic Trials in the long jump.

1984: After training with Bob Kersee for three years at UCLA, she breaks the American heptathlon record, finishing first in the Trials. At the Games, she takes the silver in the heptathlon and places fifth in the long jump.

1986: Marries coach Bob Kersee and breaks the 7,000-point heptathlon barrier to obtain her first world record.

1988: At the Games, breaks the Olympic record twice in the long jump, and breaks her own heptathlon world record. She wins the gold in both events.

1992: Repeats as gold medalist in heptathlon; takes bronze medal in long jump.

1996: Qualifies for the Olympics by taking second in the heptathlon at the Olympic Trials, the first time she has lost the event since 1984.

Box: (1) PROFILE (see text)

(2) WHEN TO WATCH (see text)