ATHENS, Greece - Being the coach of the U.S. men's and women's track teams seems pretty easy.

Think about it. All the long days and grueling hours spent teaching runners how to be fast already have been spent, often by other people. By the time a runner reaches the Olympics, about all the coach can do is offer a few reminders and some words of encouragement.

However, there is one duty that falls squarely on the coaches. And it's a biggie, often requiring every strategic and political skill they have, with bonus points for clairvoyance.

The stressful topic is picking their relay teams, especially the 400-meter squad. For U.S. coaches George Williams and Sue Humphrey, the thought processes couldn't be any more different in Athens.

How they handle their sticky situations will overlap on Friday, the third-to-last day of these games, when Humphrey's women race in the finals and Williams' men run in the semifinals.

The women's race will be seen during prime time on NBC. The telecast will be big on track and field, with some diving (the start of men's 10-meter platform competition) and the synchronized swimming finals mixed in, too.

Other highlights around the dial include all men's and women's basketball semifinals shown live, the Iraqi men's soccer team playing Italy for the bronze medal, and boxing semifinals.

While the heats of the men's 400-relay probably aren't that compelling, it's worth noting because of Williams' approach.

Knowing his roster has great depth, Williams is taking advantage of it. He plans to use Daris Patton and John Capel in the semis, then replace them with Shawn Crawford and Justin Gatlin in the finals Saturday night. Coby Miller and Maurice Greene will run both nights.

The plan is generous because if the Americans finish in the top three, all six runners will get medals. It's smart, too, because it lets Gatlin and Crawford skip the semis a day after running the 200 finals, making them fresher when it matters most.

Humphrey has no such luxury.

With three of her best sprinters not in Athens - drug issues surrounding each of their absences - and another who is here hobbling, Humphrey has picked her best four and plans to stick with them in the semis tonight and the finals Friday.

The risky part isn't burnout. It's that one of the spots went to Marion Jones.

Jones is the target of ongoing steroid investigations. If she helps the Americans win a medal and is later found guilty of cheating, the other three-fourths of the relay squad would be victims of guilty by association.

As strange as it sounds, something similar is playing out on the men's side. Positive tests by Jerome Young already have cost him his medal from the 1,600-meter relay in Sydney, and the International Association of Athletics Federations is trying to take them away from the other three, including Michael Johnson.

Jones insists she's never taken a banned performance-enhancing substance. Skeptics aren't so sure, wondering how she could finish fifth in the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympics trials - an event she won at the 2000 Olympics.

Gail Devers is among the curious. She publicly campaigned for Jones to be left off the relay for fear that she could taint the rest of the squad. Devers, however, probably can't take the spot because of an injury that knocked her out of her specialty, the 100-meter hurdles, before the first hurdle of her first heat.

Humphrey insists her decision is based on performance, as much as necessity. She says Jones has been running better ever since the trials and that the foursome were strong during workouts in recent weeks. She also points out that none of her bosses have told her to shy away from Jones.

"All I hear is rumor and innuendo," she said before this meet, "and I don't deal in rumor and innuendo."

Funny thing is, Jones was on the relay team in Sydney, when she was at her best, and still won only bronze. It was a big disappointment considering the Americans had won the event at the previous four Olympics.

The men's tradition is even stronger. Americans have won seven of the last nine Olympic 400-meter relays they've entered, which goes back to 1964, excluding the boycotted 1980 Games. They took silver in 1996 and were shut out in '88.

Got that, coaches Williams and Humphrey?