Prime-Time Players

Antonio Tarver: light heavyweight

Prime Airtime: Throughout the boxing tournament, leading to the finals (Aug. 4)

Why You Should Watch Him: Because he's living a story set to the Rocky theme. Tarver, 27, grew up in Orlando, Fla., as, he has said, ''one of the rougher kids.'' As a teenager, he tried football, baseball, basketball, and...cocaine. ''I felt I was all alone,'' Tarver has said about his drug problem. ''I was down on myself, and I made a bad decision.''

After confessing his addiction to his mother and three sisters, he entered rehab and then, eight years ago, joined the Frontline Outreach gym in West Orlando. The coaches there helped him hone his natural boxing talent, and he finally brought all his elegant skills to bear in the quarterfinals of the 1995 Pan American Games, against Diosvany Vega of Cuba. Tarver won the bout 11-10, becoming the first American to beat a Cuban in that tournament since 1987. (Fittingly, Tarver will likely meet Vega again in Atlanta.)

In the finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament in April, Tarver landed 17 punches against Anthony Stewart of Chicago while receiving none in return. When the fight was over, he stood at ring center and could hardly believe he had come so far; he was finally heading for the Olympics. ''I wish I had a genie bottle to put the feeling in,'' he said, ''and savor it for a lifetime.'' Cue the soundtrack.

The Essential Athlete: Eight-year-old Antonio Jr. dominates Tarver's life outside the ring. Junior and his grandmother, Gwendolyn, will be Antonio's very visible support staff ringside in Atlanta.

Lisa Leslie: basketball player

Prime Airtime: Versus Cuba (July 21), vs. Ukraine (July 23), vs. Zaire (July 25), vs. Australia (July 27), vs. South Korea (July 29), and in the play-off rounds leading to the finals (Aug. 4)

Why You Should Watch Her: Because you've never seen a woman dunk a basketball in the Olympics, and she has practically guaranteed to slam it down in Atlanta — an exclamation point serving notice to billions of viewers that women's basketball has its Dream Team too. At 6'5" and 170 pounds, Leslie is the nimble center on a women's hoops team that piled up a 51-0 record on its nine-month, nine-country tour. Going into the Games, Leslie stands tall as the team's top scorer and second leading rebounder.

She has stood tall for a while: At USC she won the NCAA Division I Player of the Year award in 1994. Then she graduated and found that while male counterparts earned millions, no such opportunities existed for women. ''I think we are cheated as a gender,'' she said at the time. ''No one knows what happens to all the great people in our game. It seems like we're written off.'' For two weeks in Atlanta, though, Leslie promises no one will write her off.

The Essential Athlete: The 25-year-old Leslie chills out by playing board games or cards, and by listening to rap if she's exercising, or gospel if she's relaxing. And she is both role model and fashion model: Leslie recently signed a contract with Wilhelmina Models.