Wrestling at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place from 1 August to 3 August at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1][2] This weight class was not limited by maximum weight and was open to wrestlers above 87kg.[3]

Men's freestyle heavyweight
at the Games of the X Olympiad
VenueGrand Olympic Auditorium
Dates1–3 August
Competitors3 from 3 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Johan Richthoff  Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jack Riley  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Nickolaus Hirschl  Austria
← 1928
1936 →

This freestyle wrestling competition did not use the single-elimination bracket format previously used for Olympic freestyle wrestling but instead followed the format that was introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman wrestling, using an elimination system based on the accumulation of points. 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.[4]

Schedule

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Date Event
1 August 1932 Round 1
2 August 1932 Round 2
3 August 1932 Final round

Results

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Round 1

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With only three wrestlers, there could only be three total bouts over three rounds. In the first, Hirschl had a bye while Richthoff defeated Riley by decision. This left Hirschl with 0 points, Richthoff with 1, and Riley with 3.[5]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Johan Richthoff   Sweden Decision Jack Riley   United States
Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria 0 0 0
2 Johan Richthoff   Sweden 0 1 1
3 Jack Riley   United States 0 3 3

Round 2

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In the second bout, Richthoff won again, this time over Hirschl. As the victory was by decision, Richthoff moved to 2 points; the other wrestlers finished the round with 3. Richthoff was assured of the gold medal after beating both the other wrestlers.[5]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Johan Richthoff   Sweden Decision Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria
Jack Riley   United States Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
  Johan Richthoff   Sweden 1 1 2
2 Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria 0 3 3
2 Jack Riley   United States 3 0 3

Final round

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The final round, pitting the two wrestlers who had lost to Richthoff against each other, was in effect a silver/bronze match. Riley won to take the silver.[5]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Jack Riley   United States Fall Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
  Jack Riley   United States 3 0 3
  Nickolaus Hirschl   Austria 3 3 6

References

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  2. ^ Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 20 August 2018. Archived 2009-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 550.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 547–48.
  5. ^ a b c Official Report, p. 562.