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Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

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Wrestling at the Olympics

Men's freestyle heavyweight
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
Dates28 November–1 December
Competitors11 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hamit Kaplan  Turkey
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland
← 19521960 →
Wrestling at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Greco-Roman
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen
Freestyle
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place from 28 November to 1 December at the Royal Exhibition Building. Nations were limited to one competitor. Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).

Competition format

This freestyle wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, as modified in 1952 (adding medal rounds and making all losses worth 3 points—from 1936 to 1948 losses by split decision only cost 2). Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points. The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when 3 wrestlers remained. These 3 wrestlers each faced each other in a round-robin medal round (with earlier results counting, if any had wrestled another before); record within the medal round determined medals, with bad points breaking ties.

Results

Round 1

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Hossein Nouri  Iran
Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 John Da Silva  New Zealand
Ken Richmond  Great Britain Decision, 3–0 Lila Ram  India
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Decision, 2–1 Bill Kerslake  United States
Ray Mitchell  Australia Decision, 2–1 Saburo Nakao  Japan
Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland 0 0 0
2 Hamit Kaplan  Turkey 0 1 1
2 Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria 0 1 1
2 Ray Mitchell  Australia 0 1 1
2 Ken Richmond  Great Britain 0 1 1
2 Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union 0 1 1
7 John Da Silva  New Zealand 0 3 3
7 Bill Kerslake  United States 0 3 3
7 Saburo Nakao  Japan 0 3 3
7 Hossein Nouri  Iran 0 3 3
7 Lila Ram  India 0 3 3

Round 2

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria Fall Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland
Hossein Nouri  Iran Decision, 3–0 John Da Silva  New Zealand
Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Ken Richmond  Great Britain
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Fall Lila Ram  India
Bill Kerslake  United States Fall Ray Mitchell  Australia
Saburo Nakao  Japan Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan  Turkey 1 0 1
1 Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria 1 0 1
3 Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union 1 1 2
4 Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland 0 3 3
4 Bill Kerslake  United States 3 0 3
4 Saburo Nakao  Japan 3 0 3
7 Ray Mitchell  Australia 1 3 4
7 Hossein Nouri  Iran 3 1 4
7 Ken Richmond  Great Britain 1 3 4
10 John Da Silva  New Zealand 3 3 6
10 Lila Ram  India 3 3 6

Round 3

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland Fall Saburo Nakao  Japan
Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Fall Hossein Nouri  Iran
Ken Richmond  Great Britain Fall Bill Kerslake  United States
Ray Mitchell  Australia Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan  Turkey 1 0 1
2 Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria 1 1 2
3 Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland 3 0 3
4 Ray Mitchell  Australia 4 0 4
4 Ken Richmond  Great Britain 4 0 4
6 Ivan Vykhristyuk  Soviet Union 2 3 5
7 Bill Kerslake  United States 3 3 6
7 Saburo Nakao  Japan 3 3 6
9 Hossein Nouri  Iran 4 3 7

Round 4

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland Fall Ray Mitchell  Australia
Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Ken Richmond  Great Britain
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan  Turkey 1 0 1
2 Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland 3 0 3
2 Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria 2 1 3
4 Ray Mitchell  Australia 4 3 7
4 Ken Richmond  Great Britain 4 3 7

Medal rounds

Mekhmedov's victory over Kangasniemi in round 2 counted for the medal rounds. That victory essentially decided the silver medal, as Kaplan defeated both of the other two wrestlers to take the gold medal.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Decision, 3–0 Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria
Hamit Kaplan  Turkey Decision, 3–0 Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hamit Kaplan  Turkey 2 0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria 1 1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland 0 2

References

  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report 1958, p. 672.

General

Olympic Champions in freestyle heavyweight
  • 1904: +71.67 kg
  • 1908: +73 kg
  • 1920: +82.5 kg
  • 1924–1960: +87 kg
  • 1964–1968: +97 kg
  • 1972–1996: 100 kg
  • 2000: 97 kg
  • 2004–2012: 96 kg
  • 2016–present: 97 kg
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