OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK

ATHENS – The middleweight and the light heavyweight knew they had something in common, beyond the same first name of Andre. Their families knew it, too.

Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward saw the same fire in each, a fire some other U.S. amateur boxers have failed to show in these Olympics. So Dirrell and Ward began to spar together, train together, work together, sweat together, dream together.

Now they are the only two U.S. boxers left in these Olympics. Dirrell takes on Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan and Ward squares off against Utkirberk Haydarov of Uzbekistan. Each is assured of at least a bronze medal but they want more.

“We’ve spoken quite a bit to their family and vice versa,” Leon Lawson, Dirrell’s grandfather told The Post. “We have similar stories. Both young men said they wanted to win Olympic gold when they started boxing and they were laughed at. Who’s laughing now?”

With the exception of Dirrell and Ward, the world has had a pretty good laugh over the state of amateur boxing in the U.S. At the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. failed to earn one gold medal for the first time in 52 years. It finished with two silvers and a bronze.

The best the U.S. can do this year is two medals, although if Dirrell and Ward win gold that will soften the blow. After Dirrell won his fight, coach Basheer Abdullah, expressed his relief.

“I feel like a new person,” said Abdullah. “I feel like I’ve been reborn.”

Amateur boxing needs to be reborn in the U.S. Any promising fighter is quickly signed by promoters. At a stop in New York prior to the Olympics, Abdullah was clearly pained when he saw promoter Shelly Finkel walk through the door.

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Those teenage bikini-clad cheerleaders you’ve been seeing on TV at the beach volleyball venue have been one of the big hits of the Olympics. But before any of you red-blooded American men decide to jump the first jet to Athens, here’s a little tip.

Those cheerleaders are Athenians. They’re not even Greek. They’ve been brought in from Canary Islands. And they want to be taken seriously as cheerleaders. So after doing some interviews early in the games and not being happy with the way they were portrayed, the Canary Island girls have declined to do interviews.

Sounds as if they’re just about ready to be Laker Girls.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: After losing badly to Cuba’s Michael Nunez Lopez in a bout in which he basically remained curled up in a defensive position, American super heavyweight Jason Estrada had this copout. “If I’m going to lose, I’m not going to get hit a lot.”