UNLIKELY SOURCE OF INTRIGUE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

SALT LAKE CITY - You get through the overcast skies, the road blocks, the way-too-friendly volunteers in their purple outfits, finally arrive at the Winter Game's media center, and this awaits you?

A jammed press conference for ... the U.S. men's short-track speed skating team? What kind of Olympic world is this? You didn't know this many people knew it was a sport.

There on the far right of the podium sits the man of the moment. Or at least the teen-ager of the moment.

Apolo Ohno, 19, fastest short-track racer in the world. He's wearing an oversized cotton headband across his forehead that holds back his longish hair. Has a slit of a goatee down his chin. Sometimes he wears a diamond stud in an ear. Sometimes he puts glitter on his skates.

He's an early favorite to emerge as the American face of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, and it is not a face that will ever be confused with Eric Heiden or Dan Jansen.

Ohno is half Japanese and hails from Seattle. To his right sits Rusty Smith, second-fastest member on the team. He calls Sunset Beach (in Orange County) home. There are no frozen ponds, no ice rinks, almost no ice in Sunset Beach.

But this is the vanguard of the Winter Game's latest sensation, this roller derby on ice. It's a funky sport anyway, in which four race around a track. One slip, or extra-rough elbow, and you're skidding on your high- tech racing suit and out of it.

Yet right now there is undisputed buzz over a sport that's only been part of the Olympic Games since 1992 and hasn't exactly been in vogue since.

The interest comes partly from scandal, partly from the hip quality that would go big with ``Backstreet Boys'' fans, and largely from Ohno's unquestioned success. For the moment, people are paying attention, giving these new faces a chance.

``I think we're both ready for that,'' Smith said. ``We enjoy the pressure, we enjoy the fame, we enjoy all that stuff. You don't see Apolo being bashful about being on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

``These are good things for us. We're excited about where our sport can go to.''

Sports Illustrated was so enamored with Ohno it put him on the cover of its Winter Olympics preview and called him ``a beacon of cool for the X Games crowd NBC is so desperate to attract, a winter darling like no other.''

And to think, at first, I thought he was the Games' mascot.

There is the matter of the SI cover jinx, but Ohno - who also holds the world record in in-line skating and enjoys badminton and break dancing - doesn't appear concerned.

``I really don't know about it,'' Ohno said.

Ohno, only 5-foot-8, has a shot at four medals. If he pulls that off, he'll be bigger than Tom Brady, George W. Bush and Britany Spears.

Some have even suggested he could capture four gold medals.

``It's almost impossible,'' Ohno said. ``On a short track, anything can happen. I make one mistake and the race is over. You're never going to have the gold horseshoe.''

He was, however, recently accused of having something up his sleeve. At the U.S. trials in December, Ohno obliterated the competition in taking the 500- and 1,500-meter finals but then made real news when he finished third in the 1,000.

That loss allowed his friend, Shani Davis, to win and claim the sixth and last spot on the Olympic team. Tommy O'Hare, aced out for that final spot, thought Ohno and Smith conspired to fix the race so Davis could win; he filed for arbitration. Smith countered with a defamation suit.

The arbitrator ruled on Jan. 24 there was not enough evidence to support the conspiracy charge. O'Hare dropped his complaint, Smith his suit and the team - including Ron Biondo, one of three skaters who testified they overheard Ohno and Smith discussing a fix - headed to Salt Lake City.

It's not exactly Tonya having Nancy felled by a pipe to the knee, but there's been enough aspersions cast to help pack a press conference that otherwise might have had to compete with cross country for interest.

Smith figures they might as well use the soap-opera element to their advantage.

``Maybe we get a little more media now and everyone will look at our sport,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad that went into it. We're hoping that walking in with a gold medal around our necks, everyone is going to lighten up real quick. And I'm very confident we'll be able to do that.''

Short-track speed skating, this is your Olympic moment.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno already is one of the biggest stories of the Olympics.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) Apolo Anton Ohno was accused of fixing a qualifying race so his friend could make the team.

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated Press