Boldon vows world record will fall

By Mike Fish, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

College kids are to be seen and not heard. These are the Games of the Dream
Teamers and the run-for-pay track hands. So can a precious collegian, fresh
from an NCAA title at UCLA, win the 100 meters?

Mom says so.

And Ato Boldon isn't about to disagree, even guaranteeing that Leroy
Burrell's world record 9.85 will fall in tonight's final. Boldon eased to a
9.95 clocking in the second round Friday night, and Frankie Fredericks did
him one better with a 9.93.

"No question, 100 percent guaranteed -- a world record," Boldon predicted.
"From whoever wins. Matter of fact, you may see two people break the world
record."

Boldon is brash, confident and in a big hurry. Before he left his native
Trinidad in 1989, he dreamed of a life in the professional soccer ranks.
Now, he craves an Olympic gold medal.

The 22-year-old deserves to be one of the favorites for tonight, right up
there with Fredericks, Dennis Mitchell, Donovan Bailey and defending champ
Linford Christie. Earlier this year at the NCAA championships, he clocked a
9.92 -- second-fastest in the world this year.

"If he's focused, he has a very good chance," said his mother, Hope Boldon,
in the stands for both his races Friday. "I have lived inside Ato's head for
a long time. Each of the top runners have beaten the other at some time, so
it's really a matter of whose head is right and who is technically
proficient.

"Ato is ready. He won't even let me turn on the air conditioning in the car
because he wants to feel the heat and humidity."

Hope Boldon knows something about the local weather, having lived here since
moving from New York in 1990 with her youngest son, Okera, 16, a student at
Chamblee High. Ato moved in with an uncle, Leroy, in San Jose, Calif.,
saying: "That was where the sprinters were."

His mother relocated for a job with a major consulting firm, later setting
up her own business.

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