The gold-medal finals in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games featured a pair of superstars, Sim Kwon Ho of Korea and Lazaro Rivas of Cuba. Sim became a two-time Olympic Champion, defeating Rivas 8-0 for the gold medal. Rivas boasts a 1999 World title to go with his Olympic silver medal.     Rivas is listed on Cuba's entry list, but could be the only athlete in the top four from the Sydney to be on the mats in New York. Sim is not on the entry list, as Korea will be represented by Ha Tae-Yeon, himself a 1998 World Champion and 1999 World silver medalist. Rivas beat Ha in the gold-medal finals of the 1999 Worlds, and Rivas was named FILA Wrestler of the Year.    2000 Olympic bronze medalist was Kang Yong Gyun of the North Korea, from a nation which has not committed to attending the World Championships in New York. Kang was the 2001 Asian Champion, as well. Veteran Andriy Kalashnikov of Ukraine placed fourth in the Sydney Games, but he also is not on the Ukraine roster.    1996 Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson of the United States has returned, and looks to add a World medal to his collection. Paulson has completed college, started a family and pursued a business career in the years since his glory at the Atlanta Games. He has a fresh new approach to wrestling, and could once again surprise people with a strong performance.    Alfred Ter-Mrkrtchyan of Germany, a former World Champion, placed a strong third at the 1999 World Championships and was fifth in Sydney. However, he is moving up to 58 kg, according to Germany's roster, and will be replaced by Oleg Koucherenko, a 1992 Olympic Champion. Both of these stars are the product of the former Soviet Greco-Roman system, and moved to Germany to continue their careers.    Others with strong performances at the Olympics who will be in New York are Natig Eyvazov of Azerbaijan and Rayymzhan Assembekov of Kazakhstan.     Barys Radkevich of Belarus, the 2001 European Champion, is expected to contend for a medal. 1997 World Champion Ercan Yildiz of Turkey is also a contender, after placing second to Radkevich in the European finals. Yildiz placed just 11th in the Sydney Games, but has the ability to move towards the top.     Russia is always powerful in Greco-Roman, but none of their entries have extremely high achievements. Alexei Shevtsov placed 12th in the Sydney Games and was fourth in the 2001 European Championships. The other Russian possibilities include Renat Bikkinine, Gueidar Mamedaliev or Sergey Shvarev. Whoever Russia brings should be a strong competitor and a potential medalist.    Among the veteran stars in the field are Tero Katajisto of Finland, Dariusz Jablonski of Poland and 1998 World silver medalist Marian Sandu of Romania. Jablonski won the bronze medal at the 2001 European Championships.    Hassan Rangraz of Iran placed second in the 2001 Asian Championships. Iran is becoming stronger each season in Greco-Roman, and their athletes should be taken very seriously.     Greco-Roman is very popular in the former Soviet Republics, so athletes such as Sergei Sobakar of Ukraine Vaja Omanidze of Georgia and Bokhodir Imamov of Uzbekistan will be in the mix.     This weight class has some compelling possibilities. On paper, Cuba's Rivas and Korea's Ha look to be the favorites. However, veteran stars such as Koucherenko and Paulson, and some talented newcomers, could make this a wide-open race for the medals.    GRECO-ROMAN 54 kg/119 lbs (30 athletes as of 9/12)  Australia - Nicolay Goranov  Azerbaijan  - Natig Eyvazov  Belarus  - Barys Radkevich or Ibad Ahmedov  Brazil - Jeferson Cadoso  Bulgaria - Stoycho Ivanov or Tenyo Tenev  Canada  - Rene Harrison  China - Chen Yungang  Colombia - Freddy Serrano  Cuba - Lazaro Rivas or Osmany Duca  Denmark - Anders Nyblom  Egypt - Mohammed Moustafa Abouelela  Finland - Tero Katajisto or Petri Isokoski  France - Hamou Oubrik  Georgia - Vaja Omanidze or Mikheil Zavrashvili  Germany - Oleg Koucherenko  Hungary - Tibor Olah  India - Mukesh Khatri  Iran - Hassan Rangraz  Japan - Tomoya Murata  Kazakhstan -Rakymzhan Assembekov  Korea - Ha Tae-Yeon  Peru -  Joel Basaldua Bravo  Poland - Dariusz Jablonski  Romania - Marian Sandu, Gheorghe Zamfir or Florin Gavrila  Russia - Alexei Shevtsov, Renat Bikkinine, Gueidar Mamedaliev or Sergey Shvarev  Tajikistan - Djamshed Shekhov  Turkey- Ercan Yildiz, Bayram Ozdemir or Yardal Muchit  Ukraine - Sergei Sobakar or Oleksandr Vakulenko  United States - Brandon Paulson  Uzbekistan - Bokhodir Imamov    Starting on September 4th, TheMat.com will publish a preview each day for an individual weight class that will be contested at the 2001 World Championships of Wrestling. All 22 weight classes that will be contested in New York City will be featured, concluding on Tuesday, September 25, the day of weigh-ins for the tournament. Visit TheMat.com daily for detailed coverage leading up to wrestling's most important event this year!!!