EVEN though the waiter was from Florida, he still had no idea who he was serving.

"You guys from college," he asks Jeremy Wariner and training partner Darold Williamson.

"Not any more," the Olympic 400m champion replies.

Later, the waiter asks other members of the dining party in Sydney whether the American guys were famous.

It is a common occurrence for Wariner. He may be one of greatest runners of all time but he looks like an everyday skinny kid whose jeans are hanging off him like a hip-hop star.

It is the same on the track, that is before he starts running. It is there where he glides and moves his 70kg body around faster than only two others have in history.

Being a sprinter and being from America usually means you are black, loud and have lots of tattoos. Not Wariner.

The colour of his skin is one subject that Wariner doesn't like talking about.

"Irrelevant," he says.