The 2003 World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships will commence this coming week, running from Thursday, October 2, to Sunday, October 5. They will be held in Créteil, France. That means that it is time once again for my gold medal predictions. This is part of an annual project organized by Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling. The predictions of various international wrestling journalists will be posted on TheMat.com, as were done for the Freestyle Worlds this year and for World Championships and Olympic Games for the past several years. To reiterate some points made about other sets of predictions, we only venture to make gold medal predictions because of FILA's random draws and pool systems, without wrestle-backs. That means that the top wrestlers can meet anytime in a tournament, with the loser being eliminated from medal contention. The wrestlers thus regard every match as a gold medal match. But this also takes away from the significance of the silver and bronze medals. The medal that really matters the most, then, is the gold medal, since its winner had to defeat everyone he faced. As with most of these international tournaments, most countries have not released their rosters of competitors. This game of hide-and-seek is horrible for the promotion of wrestling, but then again most wrestling federations are clueless at best and fearful at worst of the prying eyes of the media intruding on their protected little worlds. Another factor complicating these predictions is the very unpredictability of the sport of wrestling on its highest levels. Repeating as a World Champion is extremely difficult. Here are the Greco-Roman gold medal winners in each weight class for the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 and 2002 World Championships: 2000 Olympic Games 54 kg Kwon Ho Sim, Korea 58 kg Armen Nazarian, Bulgaria 63 kg Varteres Samourgashev, Russia 69 kg Filiberto Ascuy, Cuba 76 kg Mourat Kardanov, Russia 85 kg Hamza Yerlikaya, Turkey 97 kg Mikael Ljungberg, Sweden 130 kg Rulon Gardner, USA 2001 World Championships 54 kg Hassan Rangraz, Iran 58 kg Dilshod Aripov, Uzbekistan 63 kg Vaghinar Galustyan, Armenia 69 kg Filiberto Ascuy, Cuba 76 kg Ara Abrahamian, Sweden 85 kg Muhran Vakhtangadze, Georgia 97 kg Alexander Bezruchkin, Russia 130 kg Rulon Gardner, USA 2002 World Championships 55 kg Gaidar Mamedaliev, Russia 60 kg Armen Nazarian, Bulgaria 66 kg Jimmy Samuelsson, Sweden 74 kg Varteres Samourgashev, Russia 84 kg Ara Abrahamian, Sweden 96 kg Mehmet Oezal, Turkey 120 kg Dremiel Byers, USA Analyzing these lists reveals that there are relatively few repeat champions. From 2001 to 2002, there was only one, Ara Abrahamian of Sweden, who went up from 76 kg to 84 kg to win both years. From 2000 to 2001, there were only two repeat champions in the eight weight classes of those years, Rulon Gardner of the USA at 130 kg and Filiberto Ascuy of Cuba at 69 kg. Comparing 2000 and 2002, when the weight classes were reduced from eight to seven, there were only two repeat champions: Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria at 58 kg in 2000 and 60 kg in 2002, and Varteres Samourgashev of Russia, who won at 63 kg in 2000 and went all the way up to 74 kg to win in 2002. The total amount of winners for all three years of 2000, 2001, and 2002: zero. So with all these variables in mind, let us fearlessly tread where no gambler dares to go, and make our gold medal predictions for the 2003 World Championships of Greco-Roman Wrestling. 55 kg/121 pounds -- Asset Imanbayev, Kazakhstan The 22-year-old Asset Imanbayev of Kazakhstan was the 2003 Asian Champion at 55 kg. His resume also includes gold medals at the 2002 Asian Games at 55 kg, as well as becoming a Junior World Champion both in 2000 and 2001 at 54 kg. His only trip to the Senior Worlds was up a weight, at 58 kg. It resulted in him not getting out of his pool, losing 4-2 to Petr Svehla of the Czech Republic. At 55 kg, Imanbayev has proved that he is a winner. This weight class has lots of talent and past champions, any of whom can win. 2001 World Champion Hassan Rangraz of Iran was a bronze medalist in 2002. The 2002 World Champion, Gaidar Mamedaliev of Russia, only finished in 17th place at the 2003 European Championships. So the pattern of a new champion each year at this very competitive weight, and its predecessor of 54 kg, should continue this year. 60 kg/132 pounds -- Armen Nazarian, Bulgaria It is hard to believe that Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria is only 29 years old. Back in 1993, when he was just 19 and then wrestling for Armenia, he won a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships at 52 kg. He has won two Olympic gold medals. In 1996, he won gold at 52 kg for Armenia. In 2000, he won gold at 58 kg for Bulgaria. He is the reigning World Champion, winning gold last year at 60 kg. He is the reigning European Champion at 60 kg. In fact, his win in the 2003 Europeans was the sixth time in eight tries that he has won that event, beginning with his first win in 1994 at 52 kg for Armenia. Since 1997, he has wrestled for Bulgaria. In his preview of this weight class on TheMat.com, Gary Abbott wrote that, "It could be argued that the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler in the world is two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria, who is also the reigning World champion at this division." Nazarian is clearly the favorite to repeat this year, and the man to beat at this weight. 66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Kevin Bracken, USA Bracken, who turns 32 on October 29, has never won a World or Olympic medal in his four previous attempts. Yet he holds victories over many of the top wrestlers who have done so, including Jose Luis Maren of Cuba -- defeating him IN Cuba in the 2003 Granma Cup -- as well as Turkey's Seref Eroglu at the 2001 World Cup. Eroglu is a 1997 World Champion who won both the 2003 European Championships and the 2003 Pytlasinski Tournament at this weight. At both those tournaments, Eroglu beat last year's World silver medalist Farid Mansurov of Azerbaijan, who defeated Bracken last year in the Worlds in their opening pool. The point is that Bracken is right there in terms of ability with the top wrestlers in the world at this weight. All he has to do is wrestle as consistently as he did at the 2002 Pytlasinski Tournament, which he also won, as well as the 2003 Granma Cup, 2003 Pan Am Championships, and 2003 U.S. World Team Trials, and he can bag his first gold. With enough motivation and perhaps a little bit of luck, this could be Bracken's year. 74 kg/163 lbs. - Mikhail Ivantchenko, Russia It looks like there is a changing of the guard on the Russian wrestling team at this weight. Russia often uses the Pytlasinski Tournament as a testing ground for new talent. This year, that event at this weight was won by a newcomer, Mikhail Ivantchenko. There he defeated Turkey's Mahmut Altay, who was the gold medalist at the 2002 World Cup. Ivantchenko also finished ahead of Georgia's Badri Khasaia, last year's World silver medalist, who finished just fifth. In Ivantchenko's only other major international competition, he was a 2000 World University Greco Champion at 69 kg. Russia also could send to the 2003 Worlds its reigning World Champion at this weight, Varteres Samourgashev, or Alexei Gloushov, who won the gold medal at the 2003 European Championships and was second at the 2001 World Championships at 69 kg. So the pick really is for whomever the Russians send. Since it was Ivantchenko who seemed to pass his test at the Pytlasinski Tournament, it may very well be him. But if it is either Samourgashev or Gloushov representing Russia, then that becomes my pick. If only Russia told the world ahead of time who would be wrestling for them! 84 kg/185 lbs. - Ara Abrahamian, Sweden This pick goes against all my other theories, since Abrahamian has been a World Champion the past two years. But he did finish second in the 2001 and 2002 Europeans, so he is far from invincible. Sweden did not send its more experienced wrestlers to the Europeans this year, but is expected to field its top team at the Worlds, which will also be broadcast on Swedish