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Ato Boldon is one of the favorites in the 100-meter dash in the 1996 Olympics. The 22-year-old Trinidadian recently handicapped the field for SportsZone users. Here's whom he expects to face July 27 at the Olympic Stadium in the premier track and field event at the Games.
• Donovan Bailey, 28, Canada: Donovan has everything to lose. Because he is the world champion, people are expecting him to win. If he doesnıt win, last year gets exposed as a weak year. It was a weak year, a year in which only one person broke 10 seconds in the World Championships final. His strength is that because of his body type -- how tall he is and how long his legs are -- if he is close to any shorter sprinter (me, Dennis Mitchell or Jon Drummond), if we get to 60 or 70 meters and we are not relaxed, he will go right by us, any of us.

• Linford Christie, 36, England: He concerns me the most, but not for the reason everybody thinks. I donıt think he can win. But I need him in the final for it to be a truly meaningful Olympic final. If Christie, the defending Olympic champion does not qualify for the finals, the race loses a lot of its luster. I saw in Barcelona how little respect he got for his gold-medal race because Carl Lewis was not in the race. Sprinting is a sport in which the torch is passed very slowly, but very definitively. So without Carl in his race, Linford didnıt receive that torch. I need Christie in the finals this year, so that when the race is run, people wonıt say that this was just a down year for the 100-meter sprint.

• Jon Drummond, 27, United States: One of two people who, if I donıt win, I wouldnıt mind winning. Jon and I have the same coach, John Smith, and train together. His strengths are his start and his ability to not feel pressure when itıs at its highest. His disadvantage is that he has never been in any major final.

• Frankie Fredericks, 28, Namibia: The other person who I wouldnıt mind winning. His strength is experience. He has been in every major final since 1991. He has been in the last two world-record races, as well. And beating Michael Johnson in the 200 in Europe recently adds to his confidence. He has the biggest psychological edge, since he is the only sprinter who can say, coming into Atlanta, "I havenıt lost to any of these guys."

• Mike Marsh, 28, United States: Marsh and Donovan are very similar in that because of their body types, they can go right by sprinters at the end if they are not being careful. Ask me how I know! He did it to me in 1995. It is such a psychologically devastating thing to be at your top speed and to have someone go by you. Not creep by you. I mean swoosh by you.

• Dennis Mitchell, 30, United States: The same thing that is his greatest asset is his greatest liability: He runs on emotion. If he gets himself emotionally high and yet still relaxes -- which is often not possible and the reason he gets third so often -- then he is going to win. But what I think will happen is he will go out there and get very emotional, burn up a whole lot of energy before the gun even goes off. So, for 50 meters heıll be a demon, and then, at least two sprinters will go past him.

• Bruny Surin, 29, Canada: Bruny doesnıt concern me too much. He just has a problem relaxing.

• Ato Boldon, 22, Trinidad and Tobago: The last guy in the race is me. My weakness is that Iıve never been in an Olympic final. Iım not experienced. My strength is that I know all of the seven finalists probably better than they know themselves, because I have them in my living room every night. I watch them on video, study what part of their race is their strength and what part is their weakness. Iıve run with them in Europe now for two years, so I know what gets to them what doesnıt, what is an ideal race for them, whether they like to lead or come from behind. I know what I have to watch out for, and I know that with a good start and by staying relaxed in the final 30 meters, I can win.