It is exactly one month from the opening whistle of the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling, which will be held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, September 12-14.    The tournament will feature the world's best men and women freestyle wrestlers, competing in the world's most famous sports arena, Madison Square Garden. The World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling is also a qualifying event for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Women's wrestling will be contested in the Olympics for the first time ever in Athens.    The world's best wrestlers have begun their final training preparations for the competition, getting ready for the opportunity to win World titles and medals in seven weight classes for men and seven weight classes for women. The defending World Freestyle Team Champions are Japan in women's wrestling and Iran in men's wrestling.    At this time, based upon registration materials provided by each national federation, there are 305 men freestyle wrestlers and 174 women freestyle wrestlers expected to compete at the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling.     These 479 athletes represent 71 nations: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guam, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Phillippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan.     The teams for the United States have been determined, and the coaching staffs are preparing for the final training camps. The U.S. freestyle teams are coming off a tremendous performance at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where they both won the unofficial team titles. The women's freestyle team swept all four individual gold medals available, and the men's freestyle team won four gold medals and seven medals total.    The New York community is also getting ready to host the championships, with final planning underway for all aspects of the event presentation. The Metropolitan Wrestling Association is among the leaders of the local organizers for the event. The tournament is expected to be a huge success, with special credit to the volunteers from the region who have worked very hard to prepare for the competition.    "We are honored to have the world's best freestyle wrestlers coming to New York for these championships," said Ken Podziba, Commissioner of the New York City Sports Commission. "With New York's large ethnic diversity, we are confident that the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling will stir national passions and demonstrate why New York is such an extraordinary home for great international sports competitions."     New York's Korean and Russian communities, as examples, are full of enthusiastic sports fans that will come out to support wrestlers from their national teams, which have already named rosters for these Championships. "This event will show that New York is truly the World's Second Home(tm), " he continued.    Fans who wish to purchase reserved seats must act soon, as they are expected to be all sold prior to the first day of the competition. Premier seats remain available throughout the arena for the event, but fans should order them right away. Call today to order tickets at 1-877-NYC-2003.    "The 30-day countdown has begun, as the organizing committee prepares from what will be the greatest World Championships ever conducted," said Mark Scott, competition director for the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling. "The organizing committee is excited about the brisk ticket sales, and anticipates a total sellout of the championship finals. USA Wrestling is pleased to host the world's wrestling federations in this important Olympic qualifying event. Fans will witness the most exciting wrestling action on earth. It will be a tremendous event."    Fans who have not yet booked hotels still have a limited time frame to get them through the organizers at the special event rate. A variety of hotel options are available. To see the list of hotel options, visit the World Championships web page at www.nyc2012.com/wrestlingworlds. Handling hotel accommodations for the event is Total Travel Management at 516-222-9229 or via e-mail at ttmny@ix.netcom.com.    Media interest worldwide for this event has been strong, with over 250 media accreditation forms already received. There is still time for journalists to apply for credentials, as well as available space for these journalists to be accommodated at the competition. The deadline for media accreditation is 25 August. For information, contact Press Chief Gary Abbott at 719-598-8181, ext. 641 or via e-mail at gabbott@usawrestling.org    Just one month to go! Make plans to attend the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling today.