Jenny Wong has spent most of her wrestling career as an afterthought. From the club level to high school to two different NCAA Division I programs, Wong's development on the mat has always taken a back seat to the needs of male wrestlers.    Not anymore.    The U.S. Olympic Committee has created a year-round women's resident wrestling program that focuses solely on developing women's wrestling - something Wong and most women wrestlers have never had. "It's been totally different. When you're in Division I men's rooms, you're not the focus," said Wong, of Stillwater, Minn. "The coaches are great and will help you when they can, but their  job is to get the guys ready for NCAAs. Now we're wrestling women and it's great."    The USOC and USA Wrestling have supported women's wrestling since it began about 20 years ago, but have never given it the resources to put the U.S. team on the same competitive level of countries where the sport is more popular.    That changed in September 2001 when women's wrestling was added as an Olympic sport.    "Before, if girls wanted help, they'd come in here and the coaches would help them when they were done with the guys," U.S. women's coach Terry Steiner said. "But they were kind of pushed all over the place until it gained Olympic status, which changed USA Wrestling to go full blast with it. An Olympic medal is an Olympic medal, and that is how they look at it, too."    The program, which began in August, has 18 women who live in dormitory-style rooms at the USOC Training Center in Colorado Springs. The women stick a regimented program that includes two workouts per day, five days per week, and have full use of the USOC training, medical and food facilities.    The wrestlers also have access to sports psychologists, bio-mechanists, and strength and conditioning coaches.    "It was a really big change to have time to devote to the other aspects of the sport, like really fine tuning wrestling, being able to come in extra sessions to watch videos - all the stuff that I knew was good for my wrestling but I never really had time to do because I was trying to go to classes," said Patricia Miranda, who wrestled with Stanford's men's team for five years before joining the resident program.    The program is off to a good start with the hiring of Steiner.    Steiner was a three-time All-American at Iowa and won a national title in 1993. He coached at Wisconsin and Oregon State, and has worked with Olympic-caliber wrestlers, giving the program instant credibility.    Even though he had never coached women before taking the position, Steiner has taken to the women's movement full force.    Along with his coaching responsibilities, Steiner has spent time attempting to change perceptions about women's wrestling and has worked to build support for the sport.    "It's the first time that I really feel like somebody is committed to focus on developing women's wrestling and getting us medals in 2004," Miranda said. "Just not holding any punches, really getting behind developing this wrestling. Having somebody there as good as Terry, I think is the best thing that's happened to women's wrestling in the U.S."    Even with Steiner's efforts, women's wrestling still has a long way to go.    Many coaches, particularly those who have been in the sport for a long time, believe a wrestling mat is no place for a woman and that it should be restricted just to men. That mindset has stunted the  growth of the sport and kept it from building a foundation at the lower levels.    On the club level, many girls are forced to wrestle boys because there aren't leagues specifically designed for them. The same is true in high school, where just two states, Texas and Hawaii, have high school leagues for girls.    The collegiate level is where many Olympic-caliber wrestlers come from, but there are only about a dozen programs. The NCAA requires at least 20 schools to have a program before it can even be  considered for sanctioning.    The result is that wrestlers like Wong and Miranda spend their careers competing against men who are often stronger and faster.    "You've got to look how wrestling has evolved in the U.S.," Steiner said. "It's been a guys sport since the beginning, so you have a lot of coaches and people out there who think it should remain a guys sport. I think that the thing you really have to look at and what I really looked at in taking the position was what I've gained from the sport off the mat, the things that it has taught me.    "Why should we limit that to half the population?"