SPRINTERS ARE SHIFTING MOUTHS INTO OVERDRIVE.

Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE

ATHENS, Greece - One guy raced a giraffe and a zebra and calls himself ``Cheetah Man.'' He began his Athens Olympics by running with one black shoe and one white. While wearing a white baseball cap. Backward.

Another designs prom dresses and almost went to art school rather than run track. He emerged from obscurity at the U.S. Trials a month ago and now is known as Cheetah Man's almost-as-fast training partner.

The third has the letters G-O-A-T tattooed on his arm, which modestly stands for Greatest Of All Time. He preps for every race by making ugly faces, and he'll make another if one of his compatriots dethrones him as Olympic champion.

Say hello to your American 100-meter sprint team. Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin, Maurice Greene, in that order. Safely through to today's semifinals after a day of sizzling times and loose talk Saturday at Athens Olympic Stadium.

The trio won the six races they were in and put up some eye-popping times in the process. Crawford went 9.89 seconds in the second round, Greene finished in 9.93, and Gatlin had a 9.96.

Prompting Greene, the wise old (30) man of this trio to suggest, ``We're gonna have a party tomorrow. Everybody invited.''

The American male sprinters are never dull. Whether they are preening, talking trash or going out and backing up their words with very fast action, they are pure entertainment.

Crawford and Gatlin seemed to get under Greene's skin on Saturday, and maybe some of the other veteran sprinters, as well, with their antics.

Crawford said his black and white shoes in the first round (he wore silver and black in the second) represented his ``split personality.'' Well, no argument there.

As for that baseball cap worn in reverse, he explained, ``It's like a supercharger for my inner cooler. I wore it over the back of my head so my engine wouldn't overheat.''

That was after he ran a 10.02 in the morning sun.

``It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. That's the way I am,'' Crawford said, meaning he's just plain goofy. Which he seemed to prove by racing the giraffe and zebra for a reality TV show.

(Crawford routed the giraffe but lost to the zebra; he said the zebra got away with a false start.)

Gatlin challenged Crawford to do something zany for the first round. Which led to the baseball cap.

Gatlin, 22, usually is seen as a fairly normal guy, as dress-making sprinters go, but he stirred the pot a bit Saturday when he seemed to be calling out the 100-meter veterans after his second-round victory.

``If I sent a message'' with his fast time, he said, ``I hope I did. I just pulled away from the field. I was strong.''

By the time Greene came past reporters beneath the stadium, he'd had about enough of the brash interlopers.

``That don't mean anything,'' he said of the times put up Saturday. ``I don't have a gold medal around my neck yet. What happened earlier this year, what just happened now, it don't mean nothing. You didn't get anything for it.

``What counts is tomorrow night.''

``Tomorrow'' would be today, when Greene, Crawford and Gatlin likely will comprise three-eights of the field in the 100 final.

Some suggested Crawford and Gatlin expended too much energy in their Saturday runs, more interested in making an impression than being ready for a great effort in the final.

``Let them have their fun,'' said Kim Collins, a semifinalist from St. Kitts & Nevis. ``No point trying to break the Olympic record in the second round.''

Frankie Fredericks, a 36-year-old veteran of four Olympics, saw some method to the apparent madness of Crawford and Gatlin.

``This is where the Games start,'' he said. ``It's time to run a fast time, so when the others go to sleep they know you're ready.

``It's a game for sprinters.''

Greene might seem like yesterday's news, in the company of his cocky countrymen. But he is the one who has been in the really big races - and won them. He also has put up the best times - three of the four fastest in history, topped by the former world record of 9.79 that he ran in this city in 1999.

Only Tim Montgomery, under investigation for doping, has gone faster - a 9.78 in 2002.

Five of the 16 semifinalists went under 10 seconds; it seems clear this is a fast surface.

So, get ready for fast talk and faster running at Athens Olympic Stadium. The world record could be at risk. Along with any sense of decorum, once the Yanks get around to sorting out who's No. 1 - Cheetah Man, GOAT or the dressmaker.

Paul Oberjuerge, [phone]

paul.oberjuerge(at)sbsun.com