Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight

The men's Greco-Roman heavyweight competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place from 3 to 6 August at the Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1]

Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
VenueEmpress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Dates3–6 August
Competitors9 from 9 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ahmet Kireççi  Turkey
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Tor Nilsson  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Guido Fantoni  Italy
← 1936
1952 →

This Greco-Roman 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, with the slight modification introduced in 1936. 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 three points if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and two points if the decision was 2–1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were three points). The winner received one point if the win was by decision and zero points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least five points was eliminated.[2]

Results edit

Round 1 edit

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia Fall József Tarányi   Hungary
Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland Fall Ernesto Noya   Argentina
Tor Nilsson   Sweden Fall Len Pidduck   Great Britain
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Fall Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland
Guido Fantoni   Italy Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Guido Fantoni   Italy 0 0 0
1 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 0 0 0
1 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 0 0 0
1 Tor Nilsson   Sweden 0 0 0
1 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 0 0 0
6 Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland 0 3 3
6 Ernesto Noya   Argentina 0 3 3
6 Len Pidduck   Great Britain 0 3 3
6 József Tarányi   Hungary 0 3 3

Round 2 edit

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Guido Fantoni   Italy Decision, 2–1 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland
József Tarányi   Hungary Fall Ernesto Noya   Argentina
Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland Decision, 3–0 Len Pidduck   Great Britain
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Fall Tor Nilsson   Sweden
N/A N/A Retired Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 0 0 0
2 Guido Fantoni   Italy 0 1 1
3 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 0 2 2
4 Tor Nilsson   Sweden 0 3 3
4 József Tarányi   Hungary 3 0 3
6 Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland 3 1 4
7 Ernesto Noya   Argentina 3 3 6
7 Len Pidduck   Great Britain 3 3 6
9 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 0 3 3*

Round 3 edit

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Guido Fantoni   Italy Fall József Tarányi   Hungary
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland
Tor Nilsson   Sweden Fall Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Guido Fantoni   Italy 1 0 1
1 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 0 1 1
3 Tor Nilsson   Sweden 3 0 3
4 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 2 3 5
5 József Tarányi   Hungary 3 3 6
6 Moritz Inderbitzin   Switzerland 4 3 7

Round 4 edit

After three rounds, the three medalists were decided and they wrestled to determine who received which medal. Kireççi had beaten Nilsson previously (in round 2), so the two would not wrestle each other again. The draw resulted in Fantoni facing Nilsson in round 4 and Kireççi in round 5. Nilsson would have taken bronze with a loss, but guaranteed himself at least silver by winning by fall.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Tor Nilsson   Sweden Fall Guido Fantoni   Italy
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 1 0 1
2 Tor Nilsson   Sweden 3 0 3
3 Guido Fantoni   Italy 1 3 4

Round 5 edit

Kirecci won the final match to take the gold medal; Fantoni's loss put him in third place.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Guido Fantoni   Italy
Tor Nilsson   Sweden Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
  Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 1 1 2
  Tor Nilsson   Sweden 3 0 3
  Guido Fantoni   Italy 4 3 7

References edit

  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 496.