ATHENS, 14 September - The United States Wheelchair Rugby team, which is defending the gold medal won in Sydney, has top seeding at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

    The Americans clinched the No 1 position in June with a thrilling 33-32 victory over Canada in an international pre-Paralympic tournament in Burnaby (BC). At the time, Canada headed the world rankings with the USA following closely.

    The Australian team, which took the silver medal in Sydney after going down 32-31 to the Americans in the final, is seeded third ahead of Great Britain followed by Germany, New Zealand, Belgium, and Japan.

    In addition to winning the pre-Paralympic tournament, the Americans gained three of the seven places in the All Star Team - with Norm LYDUCH, Cliff CHUNN and Bryan KIRKLAND.

    A total of 24 games will be played in the Paralympic Games at the Hellinko Olympic Complex between 19-25 September with a rest day on 22 September.

(www.athens2004.com)