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

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Wrestling at the Olympics

Men's freestyle light heavyweight
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
Dates28 November–1 December
Competitors12 from 12 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pete Blair  United States
← 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 light 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. Light heavyweight was the second-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 79 to 87 kilograms (174.2 to 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

Defteraios withdrew after his bout.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kevin Coote  Australia Decision, 3–0 Bob Steckle  Canada
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Fall Jan Theron  South Africa
Peter Blair  United States Fall Veikko Lahti  Finland
Adil Atan  Turkey Fall Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Viking Palm  Sweden
Gerry Martina  Ireland Fall Spyros Defteraios  Greece
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Adil Atan  Turkey 0 0 0
1 Peter Blair  United States 0 0 0
1 Gerry Martina  Ireland 0 0 0
1 Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran 0 0 0
5 Kevin Coote  Australia 0 1 1
5 Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union 0 1 1
7 Veikko Lahti  Finland 0 3 3
7 Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan 0 3 3
7 Viking Palm  Sweden 0 3 3
7 Bob Steckle  Canada 0 3 3
7 Jan Theron  South Africa 0 3 3
12 Spyros Defteraios  Greece 0 3 3*

Round 2

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Jan Theron  South Africa Decision, 3–0 Kevin Coote  Australia
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Fall Bob Steckle  Canada
Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan Decision, 2–1 Veikko Lahti  Finland
Viking Palm  Sweden Decision, 3–0 Peter Blair  United States
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union Decision, 2–1 Adil Atan  Turkey
Gerry Martina  Ireland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Gerry Martina  Ireland 0 0 0
1 Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran 0 0 0
3 Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union 1 1 2
4 Adil Atan  Turkey 0 3 3
4 Peter Blair  United States 0 3 3
6 Kevin Coote  Australia 1 3 4
6 Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan 3 1 4
6 Viking Palm  Sweden 3 1 4
6 Jan Theron  South Africa 3 1 4
10 Veikko Lahti  Finland 3 3 6
10 Bob Steckle  Canada 3 3 6

Round 3

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kevin Coote  Australia Fall Gerry Martina  Ireland
Peter Blair  United States Fall Jan Theron  South Africa
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Fall Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan
Adil Atan  Turkey Decision, 2–1 Viking Palm  Sweden
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran 0 0 0
2 Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union 2 0 2
3 Peter Blair  United States 3 0 3
3 Gerry Martina  Ireland 0 3 3
5 Adil Atan  Turkey 3 1 4
5 Kevin Coote  Australia 4 0 4
7 Mitsuhiro Ohira  Japan 4 3 7
7 Viking Palm  Sweden 4 3 7
7 Jan Theron  South Africa 4 3 7

Round 4

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union Fall Gerry Martina  Ireland
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Fall Kevin Coote  Australia
Peter Blair  United States Decision, 3–0 Adil Atan  Turkey
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran 0 0 0
2 Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union 2 0 2
3 Peter Blair  United States 3 1 4
4 Gerry Martina  Ireland 3 3 6
5 Adil Atan  Turkey 4 3 7
5 Kevin Coote  Australia 4 3 7

Medal rounds

None of the medalists had faced each other yet, so a full round-robin was held. Takhti beat each of the other two medalists to win the gold medal, with Kulayev earning silver by beating Blair.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Fall Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union Fall Peter Blair  United States
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran Decision, 3–0 Peter Blair  United States
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran 2 0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union 1 1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Peter Blair  United States 0 2

References

  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Light Heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report 1958, p. 670.

General

Olympic Champions in freestyle light heavyweight
  • 1920: 80 kg
  • 1924–1960: 87 kg
  • 1964–1968: 97 kg
  • 1972–1996: 90 kg
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