There is no team medal in wrestling at the Olympic Games. But that does not mean there is no team competition. The major wrestling nations are as competitive, or even more, at the Olympics as they are at the World Championships where team scores are kept.    There are two ways to measure team success at the Olympic Games: the medal count and the unofficial team standings. Get the most medals and your team wins. Count the final standings just like a World Championships and your team gets bragging rights.     If you go back to the last Olympic Games, there is no doubt which team won. Russia claimed the medal count and the unofficial standings in freestyle. The USA was next, then the rest of the field followed.    Traditionally, there has been a "Big Three" in international freestyle wrestling with Russia, the United States and Iran all battling for top team honors. Some years, Ukraine, Cuba and Turkey have good showings and have even cracked into the top three spots.     But last year, Georgia won the team title at the World Championships in New York rather unexpectedly. Led by one team champion, Georgia had enough placewinners to score 33 points. The United States and Iran were tied with 31 points, but the USA received the tiebreaker with the highest placing athletes (2 silver medalist). Russia was fourth with 30 points, led by three champions and no other placewinners. It was one of the closest team races in history, and also a sign that nobody is in a position to dominate freestyle wrestling anymore.    Two major factors play into this. With a blind draw and the pool system of advancement, many top wrestling stars draw tough early opponents and are eliminated early. It has happened at every event since the pool system was adopted, including the last Olympic Games. Add to that the reduction in weight classes to seven, and even the best teams can crash with the loss of just a few athletes.     Then there is the difficult qualification process, where very few teams can get all of their athletes into the tournament. The team race is affected even before the Olympics begin, as the teams with the most depth get more horses into the race.    It is hardly a team race anymore. It is more of an individual tournament that adds up to team honors. In effect, a few great individuals can bring a team high in the standings. A team with balance can also do well, but only if they put a few people in the finals.     There are only four nations that have qualified all seven wrestlers for the Athens field: Russia, Iran, United States and Bulgaria. Greece gets a full team as the host nation, but even with all seven wrestlers, they are not expected to be much of a factor in freestyle.     Six other nations got in six of their athletes: Cuba, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Ukraine. Even though they are missing one athlete, these teams could still win if their top individuals get the job done. Coming home with five athletes are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Japan and Uzbekistan. Those with four wrestlers are Armenia, Hungary, Korea and Mongolia. Teams with three or fewer really don't have much chance (unless they all get into the medal round).    So, with all of that on the table, which teams have the best chances in Athens? It is still a good bet to start with the Big Three, then reach out to the others…    Russia    If Russia wrestles to its ability, it has a chance to be dominant. In 2003, Russia had three World Champions, and four athletes place out of the top 10, only placing fourth as a team. If even two of those weight classes improve, then Russia is in great shape for Athens.    The returning World champions for Russia are Irbek Farniev (66 kg), Bouvaisa Saitiev (74 kg) and Sajid Sajidov (84 kg). As with other Russian teams, even the World champions are not guaranteed a spot on the roster. It is almost certain that Saitiev will be in Athens, as no other Russian has matched his skills. Sajidov must get the nod over 2000 Olympic champion Adam Saitiev. Farniev has European champion Makahach Murtazaliev in his weight division. If all of the 2003 World Champions are not in the Russian lineup, you can bet their replacement is capable of winning gold as well.    The other four weight classes may hold the key for Russia. Traditionally, Russia is most powerful in the upper weights. However, in New York, Russia did not get a single team point at 96 kg and 120 kg. It is hard to expect that to happen again. At 96 kg, Georgi Gogshelidze was a World champion in 2001. European champion Khadjimurad Gatsalov may be the choice at 96 kg, however. The super heavyweight will be a past World champion. David Musulbes, the 2000 Olympic champion and 2001 and 2002 World champion is the veteran. Kouramagomed Kouramagomedov, who won a 1997 World title down at 97 kg, is reportedly beating Musulbes. These are strong weights for Russia.    Russia has been weak at the lower two weight divisions, and this could remain the case in Athens. The choice at 55 kg is probably Mavlet Batirov, who has not won a World-level medal. At 60 kg could be the 2000 Olympic champion Mourat Oumachanov, who made a strong comeback from retirement, Oumanachov is an improvement on the other Russian in recent meets, but how strong he is after his time off from wrestling is yet to be seen.    Tentative Russian lineup  55 kg - Mavlet Batirov, Adam Batirov or Alexander Kontoev  60 kg - Mourat Umachanov, Murat Ramazanov, Kamal Ustarkhanov  66 kg - Makahach Murtazaliev or Irbek Farniev  74 kg - Bouvaisa Saitiev or Magomed Isagadzhiev  84 kg - Sajid Sajidov or Adam Saitiev  96 kg- Khajimurad Gatsalov, Taimuraz Tiguev or Georgi Gogshelidze  120 kg - Kouramagomed Kouramagomedov or David Mussulbes    United States    The good news is this is the same exact team that placed second in the World Championships in New York City. The challenge for this team is to win more than the two medals that it took home in Madison Square Garden, both silvers. For the U.S. to emerge as the top team, there will have to be more medals won, and some might have to be gold. Certainly, this group is very capable.     Unlike previous U.S. Olympic Teams, there is not a past gold medalist on the roster. You have to go back to the 1968 Olympic Team to have an entire U.S. freestyle roster without a past World or Olympic champion. Consider these Olympic teams, with team members who already had a gold medal in their trophy case heading into the Games:  2000 - Sammie Henson, Terry Brands, Melvin Douglas  1996 - Tom Brands, Kenny Monday, Melvin Douglas, Kurt Angle, Bruce Baumgartner  1992 - Zeke Jones, John Smith, Kenny Monday, Kevin Jackson, Chris Campbell, Bruce Baumgartner  1988 - John Smith, Mark Schultz, Bill Scherr, Bruce Baumgartner  1984 - Dave Schultz  1980 - Lee Kemp, Ben Peterson  1976 - Lloyd Keaser, Ben Peterson  1972 - Rick Sanders, Dan Gable, Wayne Wells    You have to cut this team some slack about that, though. First of all, there are only seven weight classes anymore, making winning a gold that much tougher. Add back the three lost weight classes, and you can bet there would be more American golds. In addition, the U.S. team did not get to go to the 2002 World Championships in Iran because of the violence threat. That robbed this group of another chance to claim gold medals and to get that important World-level experience. This team has not had as much opportunity as the previous teams.    If they haven't won any gold medals before, what makes it logical that they will win them now? To start, three team members have won World medals. Cael Sanderson (84 kg) and Kerry McCoy (120 kg) were World silver medalists in 2003. Joe Williams (74 kg) was a World bronze medalist in 2001. McCoy and Williams have great experience levels. Sanderson has only been to one World tournament, and was one point away from winning it.     All three will have tough challenges against people they have lost to. Williams may have to face Russia's World and Olympic champion Buvaisa Saitiev. Sanderson's loss in New York came to Russia's Sajidov, and he has lost a few to Cuba's Yoel Romero. McCoy has yet to beat Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov. The