US News

PATERSON GAL’S TAPE SHOCKER

ALBANY – An attractive Olympic gold-medalist says she had a close personal relationship with Gov. Paterson earlier this year – during which time she recorded a series of secret telephone conversations with him.

Track-and-field athlete Diane Dixon, of Brooklyn, also told The Post that she had received a private message yesterday morning from Paterson, asking if she was speaking with the media.

Dixon, 43, said Paterson, 53, was “mostly responsible” for getting her a badly needed job earlier this month with the city Department of Education in Crown Heights’ District 17.

The job pays in the range of $48,000 to $65,000 a year, records show.

“I’m a single mom with a child. I need this job,” said Dixon, who grew up on Carroll Street in Crown Heights and won medals in the 4×400-meter relay at the 1984 games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Paterson, a Democrat who was sworn in on Monday, admitted yesterday to having had several extramarital affairs, but contended they all ended years ago. He was informed by The Post in the morning that at least one news organization had been notified he had recently been involved with a woman from Brooklyn.

Paterson denied the claim.

But a few hours later, Dixon called The Post to say she had received a message from Paterson inquiring about whether she was talking to the press.

A spokeswoman for Paterson later said that when he was lieutenant governor, he had given Dixon a medal at a Chamber of Commerce dinner and then met with her three times in his Manhattan office, in part to help her find a job.

The spokeswoman also insisted Paterson was never romantically involved with Dixon.

Dixon talked to The Post and sent several e-mails in recent weeks outlining some of her interactions with Paterson.

Dixon wrote last week to say that she was thrilled to learn that, because of former Gov. Spitzer’s prostitution scandal, Paterson was on his way to becoming governor, but she also hinted at some hidden knowledge.

“Left CONGRATS!!!! on Mr. Paterson’s phone. I hope to hear from him later when he gets settled,” Dixon wrote in an e-mail.

She ended the note, “I love the stories regarding his admirability [sic]. He is though, but . . .”

At one point, Dixon referred to tape recordings she said she possessed of many conversations with Paterson: “I have them & dates as well.”

She then added the computer symbol for a smiley face.

Dixon, in a second anxious call to The Post yesterday, pleaded to “please just keep me out of this” and said she planned to destroy the tapes.

“I know one thing. I’m going to destroy them. I don’t want no part of this,” she continued.

Asked about her earlier claims of being close to Paterson, Dixon responded, “Don’t you go there. Don’t go there. He and I were just friends. It’s all a joke. Just a joke.”

Dixon expressed admiration for Paterson when he became lieutenant governor on Jan. 1, 2007, writing on her MySpace page, “I went to Riverside Church to see David Patterson [sic] sworn in.

“He is an amazing man, very humble, honest and real.”

Dixon, who was a phenom on the senior track team at Brooklyn Tech and who, at 16, was the top-ranked female high-school runner in America, was once dominant in the indoor track-and-field world championships. In recent years, she’s been active in a variety of school and education programs to encourage young athletes.

She was one of several gold-medalists who joined Mayor Bloomberg in 2005 in the city’s unsuccessful efforts to bring the 2012 Olympics to New York City.

The city Department of Education didn’t have a record of anyone by her name currently on the payroll. It is believed she has yet to start the job.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com