Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight

The men's Greco-Roman heavyweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 24 July to 27 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1] Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).[2]

Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueMessuhalli
Dates24–27 July
Competitors10 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tauno Kovanen  Finland
← 1948
1956 →

Competition format

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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, removing the slight modification introduced in 1936 and used until 1948 (which had a reduced penalty for a loss by 2–1 decision). 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. 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. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when three wrestlers remained. These three 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.[2][1]

Results

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Round 1

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Willi Waltner   Germany Walkover K. Richmond[note 1]   Great Britain
Antonios Georgoulis   Greece Fall Adolfo Ramírez   Argentina
Tauno Kovanen   Finland Decision, 3–0 Alexandru Şuli   Romania
Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia Fall József Kovács   Hungary
Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union Walkover A. Baarendse[note 1]   Belgium
Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden Fall Guido Fantoni   Italy
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 0 0 0
1 Antonios Georgoulis   Greece 0 0 0
1 Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union 0 0 0
1 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 0 0 0
1 Willi Waltner   Germany 0 0 0
6 Tauno Kovanen   Finland 0 1 1
7 Guido Fantoni   Italy 0 3 3
7 József Kovács   Hungary 0 3 3
7 Adolfo Ramírez   Argentina 0 3 3
7 Alexandru Şuli   Romania 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Willi Waltner   Germany Decision, 3–0 Antonios Georgoulis   Greece
Tauno Kovanen   Finland Decision, 3–0 Adolfo Ramírez   Argentina
Alexandru Şuli   Romania Decision, 2–1 József Kovács   Hungary
Guido Fantoni   Italy Decision, 2–1 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia
Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union Fall Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Willi Waltner   Germany 0 1 1
3 Tauno Kovanen   Finland 1 1 2
4 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 0 3 3
4 Antonios Georgoulis   Greece 0 3 3
4 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 0 3 3
7 Guido Fantoni   Italy 3 1 4
7 Alexandru Şuli   Romania 3 1 4
9 József Kovács   Hungary 3 3 6
9 Adolfo Ramírez   Argentina 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision, 3–0
Tauno Kovanen   Finland Decision, 3–0 Willi Waltner   Germany
Alexandru Şuli   Romania Decision, 3–0 Antonios Georgoulis   Greece
Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia Fall Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden
Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union Fall Guido Fantoni   Italy
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Tauno Kovanen   Finland 2 1 3
2 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 3 0 3
4 Willi Waltner   Germany 1 3 4
5 Alexandru Şuli   Romania 4 1 5
6 Bengt Fahlkvist   Sweden 3 3 6
6 Antonios Georgoulis   Greece 3 3 6
8 Guido Fantoni   Italy 4 3 7

Round 4

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia Fall Willi Waltner   Germany
Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union Fall Tauno Kovanen   Finland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 3 0 3
3 Tauno Kovanen   Finland 3 3 6
4 Willi Waltner   Germany 4 3 7

Medal rounds

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Kotkas's victory over Kovanen in round 4 counted for the medal rounds.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia Fall Tauno Kovanen   Finland
Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union Fall Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses Start Earned Total
  Johannes Kotkas   Soviet Union 2 0 0 0 0
  Josef Růžička   Czechoslovakia 1 1 3 3 6
  Tauno Kovanen   Finland 0 2 6 3 9

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Richmond of Great Britain and Baarendse of Belgium are listed as participating by the Official Report, but neither wrestler actually competed—both losing their first-round matches by walkover and not competing thereafter.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Official Report 1955, p. 381.

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