ATLANTA - Now cleared of suspicion as an Olympic terrorist, Richard Jewell went from hero to suspect to an example of how high-profile investigations can make an innocent man infamous.

''He's the perfect image for why we have the presumption of innocence,'' said Roy Black, the defense attorney who represented William Kennedy Smith in his rape trial. ''But to be honest, this is one of those times that there is a wrong with no real remedy.''

The beefy security guard's life turned upside down when his name was leaked as a suspect in the July 27 bomb blast at Centennial Olympic Park that killed one person and injured more than 100.

Though he never was charged with a crime, Jewell became a virtual prisoner as federal agents and reporters staked out the apartment he shares with his mother. A letter Saturday from federal prosecutors clearing Jewell of suspicion helps only so much, his attorneys say.

''There will always be people out there who believe Richard is the bomber,'' said Wayne Grant, one of several attorneys representing Jewell. ''There will always be people who stare. There will always be whispers of recognition.''

That controversy will make it difficult for Jewell to return to law enforcement, as he wants to do, Grant said.

His attorneys have threatened to sue news organizations and reporters who they believe tried to make Jewell fit a profile of a bomber as possibly a former police officer, military man or aspiring policeman seeking to become a hero.

Joseph E. DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney who now works as a criminal defense lawyer in Washington, said both Jewell's lawyers and federal officials should focus now on finding who was responsible for leaking Jewell's name.

''It is absolutely essential that they try and find out who leaked ... the fact that this man allegedly fit some kind of bomber profile,'' he said. ''It is that piece of information that put this man in the position he's in today.''

Federal investigators have been studying more than 200 rolls of videotape and still photographs taken at the park near the time of the bombing, and also have started interviewing bomb victims again.

FBI spokesman Jay Spadafore declined to comment on the investigation Sunday.

Jewell initially was hailed as a hero for alerting authorities to a suspicious knapsack in the park and helping to evacuate the area. He also did numerous interviews, and that may have made him an easy target for investigators.

''Can you imagine the pressure that these guys are under trying to solve the TWA bombing, the Atlanta bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing?'' Black said. ''There's a great temptation to spin out a story that makes your side look good.''

Newsweek magazine says in its Nov. 4 issue that it learned that affidavits used to obtain search warrants against Jewell relied largely on a psychological profile of Jewell as an aspiring police officer and allegations that could have been checked without a warrant.

Three days after the bombing, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Jewell was a suspect; its sources were not identified. Other news organizations pounced on the story and federal law enforcement sources said Jewell was at the top of their list of suspects and potential suspects.

''They didn't break it. They were fed it by the law enforcement people,'' said Phil Meyer, who teaches media ethics at the University of North Carolina. ''They were tools of the government. I don't think they should feel particularly guilty about that.

''Unjustice is not unusual in our system. I don't think any great new moral or legal principles are going to be formed out of this.''

Ron Martin, editor of the Journal-Constitution, declined to comment.

Any embarrassment from the leak may have only a temporary chilling effect on future law enforcement leaks, DiGenova said.

''You're never going to stop leaks,'' he said. ''There's always going to be somebody who violates their oath and acts unprofessionally when these things happen.''

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