This is another weight class that is very volatile, with different champions every year this Olympic cycle. The reigning World champion is veteran Arif Adbullayev of Azerbaijan, the brother of 2000 Olympic champion Namik (55 kg). Abduallayev, who was 10th at the 2000 Olympics was a big surprise in New York. Although he has been on the scene many years, Arif has been in his brother's shadow and has not been high on the medal lists. Now he enters an Olympics attempting to win another gold for the family. Winning the 2003 World silver medal was Cuba's tough Yandro Quintana, who also had his best ever performance. Quintana has paid his dues, competing at the highest levels, and now is at the top of his game. The 2003 bronze medalist was a relative unknown, Korea's Song Jae-Myung. Another tough Korean at this division is Jung Young-Ho, who was third at the 2004 Asian Championships. The 2002 World champion was Aran Margaryan of Armenia, who did not even qualify to compete in Athens. Margaryan won his title when the champion that season, veteran star Harun Dogun of Turkey, tested positive for doping at the World Championships. Turkey has replaced Dogun with Tevfik Odabasi, who was sixth at the 2003 World Championships. The 2001 World champion was veteran Giuvi Sissaouri of Canada. Sissaouri was an Olympic silver medalist back in 1996, losing to Kendall Cross of the USA in the finals. The year before that, he won a World silver, losing to another American in the finals, Terry Brands. Sissaouri did not place in the top 10 in New York at the World Championships last year, but qualified for the Olympics at one of the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Claiming the 2000 Olympic title was Ali Reza Dabir of Iran, who moved up in weight a number of years ago. Iran quickly replaced Dabir with another former World champion, Mohammed Talaee, who won his World title in 1997. Talaee won the bronze at the 2002 World Championships at this division. However, the athlete who might represent Iran in Athens is Moustafa Jokar, who qualified Iran for this division by placing fifth at the first Olympic qualification tournament. Russia has not done well at this division recently, but may have new hope with the return of 2000 Olympic champion Mourad Oumachanov, who reportedly won the Russian Nationals this year after a comeback from retirement. Oumachanov won his Olympic title at 63 kg, so he had to drop weight to make this division. Competing for Russia at the 2003 World meet was Kamal Ustarkhanov. Another veteran Russian wrestler, and past World medalist, is Ramil Islamov. Murat Ramazanov has also been very active for Russia at this division. If Oumachanov was strong enough to beat Russia's best at this division, he has a legitimate chance to claim a second Olympic gold medal. A very consistent wrestler has been Oyunbileg Purebaator of Mongolia, who won World silver medals in both 2001 and 2002 and was fifth at the Sydney Olympic Games. Purebaator did not place in the top 10 in New York, and did not secure his spot in the Athens Games until the final Olympic Qualification Tournament, which calls to question his recent performances. Others who are still competing who have won medals in recent years include David Pogosian of Georgia (third in 2001) and Yevgen Buslovich of Ukraine (second in 2000). Ukraine might be represented by Vasyl Fedoryshin, who qualified the nation at one of the Olympic Qualifying events. These wrestlers have experience and talent, and would be a very difficult draw in the pool competition. The American hopeful is Eric Guerrero, who was seventh at the 1999 World meet and 10th last year. Guerrero has wins over many of the top contenders, but has yet to make it into the medal rounds at this level. Guerrero has wins over some of the medalists at this division. With another year of experience and preparation, many expect him to have his best showing in Athens. The 2003 Pan American Games featured three international stars at this division, with Quintana taking the gold, Sissaouri winning the silver and Guerrero the bronze. It is conceivable that all three of these stars from the Pan American nations could qualify for the medal rounds at the Olympics. Damir Zakhardtinov of Uzbekistan, who was fourth at the 2000 Olympics, is also in the field. It was Zakhardtinov who beat Guerrero at the 2003 World Championships in a wild match. He was the wrestler who lost in the Olympic bronze medal match to Terry Brands in Sydney in 2000. India's Sushil Kumar, who was fourth in the 2003 World Championships, is one of the many surprising talents from India, which has made a strong surge with its wrestling program in recent years. Among the wrestlers who also earned trips to Athens by placing in the top 10 at the World meet in New York City were Ulu Ulan Dadyrabek of Kyrgyzstan and Lubos Cikel of Austria. The field was completed at the final Olympic Qualifying event, which was won by Kenji Inoue of Japan. Also getting into the tournament at the event, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, was Ibrahim Abdulrahman of Qatar and Gergo Weller of Hungary. This weight class will feature an athlete from host Greece, expected to be either Besik Aslanisvili or Christos Gikas. Aslanisvili was ninth in the 2002 World Championships. Another athlete in the field is FILA wildcard Sahit Prizreni of Albania. With an aging defending World champion in Abdullaev, and a number of former World medalists in the field, this weight class is ripe for a newcomer to grab the title. The return of Olympic champion Oumachanov adds some intrigue to the competition. This division will be hard to predict because of the many possible contenders. Nations qualified (alphabetically): Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan Past gold medallists expected in field: Arif Abdullayev of Azerbaijan (2003), Giuvi Sissaouri of Canada (2001), Mourat Oumakhanov of Russia (2000), Mohammed Talaee of Iran (1997) Top World-level placement for Eric Guerrero: 7th (1999) 60 kg/132 lbs. - Freestyle 1st at 2003 World Championships - Azerbaijan (Arif Abduallaev) 2nd at 2003 World Championships - Cuba (Yandro Quintana) 3rd at 2003 World Championships - Korea (Song Jae-Myung or Jung Young-Ho) 4th at 2003 World Championships - India (Sushil Kumar) 5th at 2003 World Championships - Georgia (David Pogosian or Lasha Lomadze) 6th at 2003 World Championships - Turkey (Tevfik Odabasi) 7th at 2003 World Championnships - Kyrgyzstan (Ulu Ulan Dadyrabek) 8th at 2003 World Championships - Uzbekistan (Damir Zakhartdinov) 9th at 2003 World Championships - Austria (Lubos Cikel) 10th at 2003 World Championships - United States (Eric Guerrero) Host Nation entry - Greece (Besik Aslanisvili or Christos Gikas) 1st at Olympic Qualifier #1 - Russia (Mourat Umachanov, Murat Ramazanov or Kamal Ustarkhanov) 2nd at Olympic Qualifier #1-Bulgaria (Anatoly Guidea or Nikolai Georgiev) 3rd at Olympic Qualifier #1 -Ukraine (Yevgen Buslovich or Vasyl Fedoryshin) 4th at Olympic Qualifier #1 -Canada (Giuvi Sissaouri) 5th at Olympic Qualifier #1 -Iran (Moustafa Jokar or Mohammed Talaee) 1st at Olympic Qualifier #2 - Japan (Kenji Inoue) 2nd at Olympic Qualifier #2 -Qatar (Ibrahim Abdulrahman) 3rd at Olympic Qualifier #2 -Hungary (Gergo Weller or Laszlo Bona) 4th at Olympic Qualifier #2 -Mongolia (Oyunbileg Purevbattar) Wildcard - Albania (Sahit Prizreni) RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS 2003 World Championships results 60 kg/132 lbs. - Gold - Arif Abdullaev (Azerbaijan) dec. Yandro Quintana (Cuba), 4-3; Bronze - Song Jae-Myung (Korea) dec. Sushil Kumar (India), 4-1; 5th - David Pogozian (Georgia); 6th - Tevfik Odabasi (Turkey); 7th - Ulu Ulan Dadyrabek (Kyrgyzstan); 8th - Damir Zakhartdinov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Lubos Cikel (Austria); 10th - Eric Guerrero (United States) 2002 World Championships results 60 kg/132 lbs. - Gold - Aran Margaryan (Armenia); Silver - Oyunbileg Purebaatar (M