The Olympic Games is bigger than any one individual. Each participant, either athlete, coach, team leader, journalist or volunteer, has their own little lives within a much larger universe. This life is defined by their personal activity within that universe, including the places that they go and the things that they do.    For a U.S. wrestler, there will be a certain set of activities that in the early part of the Games is mostly based upon training. With wrestling at the end of the Olympics, even though athletes in other sports will soon be in competition, wrestlers are still in preparation mode.    The first U.S. wrestlers have arrived in Athens, and they are beginning the final stage of their journey. They have spent more than a day traveling across the nation, the Atlantic Ocean and Europe to arrive in this nation. They are greeted at the airport by U.S. Olympic Committee staff, that have found a way to be in the back behind the security area to greet them, get them through credentialing, help them find their bags and off to special buses or transportation to their housing. When possible, USA Wrestling staff and team leaders are also at the airport, bringing greetings and supplying information and support.    The athletes and coaches for U.S. wrestling do not go to the Athlete Village yet, where many of the other U.S. teams are staying and all of the international athletes from all sports are housed. Our wrestling athletes are staying in a hotel during their final training cycle, right near their training facility. Rather than coming in and out each day from the Village, which has a life of its own full of other activities and distractions, our wrestlers are staying in their own training world.    The hotel is on a side street in a very Greek part of town, not in some of the tourist areas or "Olympic" areas of the city. If you don't know where the hotel is, you will not find it. Apparently, there are many cab drivers who have no idea where the place is, which makes the vans and buses provided by the USOC and USA Wrestling even more valuable. The U.S. people in your life know where you are, where the training facility is and how to get you back and forth.    The first U.S team has arrived, and two more groups of wrestlers are to come. Each of them will go through an arrival ritual, each a little different due to circumstances and each very similar due to their similarity of activity. We now have Greco-Roman athletes and coaches in Greece, soon to be joined by women freestylers then men freestylers.    The training aspect of their life is delayed a bit for the Greco-Roman boys. Their first full day in the Olympics was detail oriented, checking off some responsibilities on their list of being an Olympian. Monday morning for the Greco team was "Processsing," a fancy word for getting all your stuff and hearing the USOC information that is vital for your existence on the Olympic team.     As a press officer, this has already happened for John Fuller and I. We did this deal on Sunday. Each of the three U.S. teams will "process" at different times, based upon their arrival. The drill goes a little like this.    There is a briefing, where the athletes see an inspiring video, then are provided greeting and information from USOC staff and leaders.  The video included training shots of athletes (including wrestlers Jenny Wong and Patricia Miranda) and some inspiring action video (with the famous Rulon Gardner cartwheel included). Jim Scherr, CEO of the Olympic Committee, gives his welcome from the US Olympic Training Center wrestling room, a plug for the sport that launched his professional career in the Olympics. President George W. Bush greets the athletes, a kind of "big" image that helps the team members understand how important and special they really are.    The key leaders of the Olympic delegation are there, including Chef de Mission Herman Fraser and Deputy Chef de Missions Dale Neuberger and Mary McCagg. A variety of USOC staffers and volunteer leaders take you through issues such as athlete code of conduct, flag handling, medical and doping advice, security, different meetings and activities, media operations, and so much more. The meeting is 90 minutes, something that will be a big challenging for people who spent 30 hours on a plane and in airports getting there.    Then comes the fun part, the equipment, uniforms and goodies that are provided for each team member. There is trying on hats, fitting of Olympic rings, testing sizes of clothes and shoes and other things. Athletes are given information about their telephone voice mails, and have their pictures taken individually and as a team.     This all occurs at the American College of Greece, which is also the Olympic Training Center for U.S. athletes. In 2000, at the Sydney Games, there was a high performance building where wrestling and a number of sports had training and preparation facilities. This time, the USOC took over an entire beautiful college campus, nestled in a valley surrounded by wooded hills and amazing views of the entire city. It is like its own little athletic heaven, where athletes can train and eat and study film and relax and get away from the craziness of the Olympic Games and the Olympic city.    There is a gym, which houses two wrestling mats, a judo mat, and a number of fencing training areas. This is where our Greco-Roman, freestyle and women athletes will do their workouts, getting in their final drilling, matches and weight management activities. There is an entire building for weight training, available for all of the teams. There is a  nice pool area, which is used a bit for training, but also where athletes can have recreational swims and sunning (There has already been a Jenny Finch poolside sighting for those who enjoy seeing celebrities in a swimsuit).    The wrestlers will be going back and forth between a Greek hotel and this athletic training center for the next few weeks. The U.S. teams are not going into the Village for some time, concentrating on wrestling and their own personal needs. They will become a part of the Athens world, but a bit out of the way, doing everything they need to get ready for the challenges ahead.    Another aspect of being an Olympian is managing media responsibilities. Greco-Roman Team USA has its official U.S. Olympic team press conference on the first day in town, down at the Main Press Center in the  O.A.K.A. district of the city. There are many details to work out, such as transportation from the American College of Greece back and forth, proper outfitting of equipment, promoting the activity to the media, and other such details. That is one of the jobs of team leaders, press officers, staffers and coaches, getting this activity taken care of and making it successful.    Taking a bus down from the American College of Greece, the entire Greco-Roman team, as well as three of their coaches, arrived at the Main Press Center in the O.A.K.A section of the city promptly at 2:30 p.m. Dressed in their official Olympic gear, the team was escorted into the Knossos Press Conference room, which is on the fourth floor next to the USOC press offices.    A large group of media, mostly American but also including some international journalists, were waiting for team. Moderator John Fuller got the conference going, asking each team member a question, as well as all three coaches. Then there was a portion open to the media to ask questions.    Although Olympic Champion Rulon Gardner received more questions than the others, the press asked a variety of questions to all of the team members. One journalist asked all of the athletes to speak about their thoughts of security and, across the board, the entire team was pleased with the preparations and not concerned with their safety.     There was even some good humor in the conference, when Gardner commented about how "old" National Coach and 1984 Olympic Champion  Steve Fraser was, and Fraser joked back about what he would do if Gardner was just "100 pounds lighter."      The press conference then went into a one-on-one situation, with a large group circling Gardner to one side, and