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

The men's Greco-Roman middleweight 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] Middleweight was the third-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing 73 to 79 kilograms (160.9 to 174.2 lb).[2]

Men's Greco-Roman middleweight
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueMessuhalli
Dates24–27 July
Competitors11 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Axel Grönberg  Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kalervo Rauhala  Finland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Nikolay Belov  Soviet Union
← 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 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.[2][1]

Results

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Round 1

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Gustav Gocke   Germany Decision, 2–1 Ercole Gallegati   Italy
Axel Grönberg   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Kalervo Rauhala   Finland
Ali Özdemir   Turkey Decision, 2–1 Adel Ibrahim Moustafa   Egypt
Gyula Németi   Hungary Decision, 3–0 Lars Bilet   Norway
Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union Fall Jerzy Gryt   Poland
Émile Courtois   Belgium Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union 0 0 0
1 Émile Courtois   Belgium 0 0 0
3 Gustav Gocke   Germany 0 1 1
3 Axel Grönberg   Sweden 0 1 1
3 Gyula Németi   Hungary 0 1 1
3 Ali Özdemir   Turkey 0 1 1
7 Lars Bilet   Norway 0 3 3
7 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 0 3 3
7 Jerzy Gryt   Poland 0 3 3
7 Adel Ibrahim Moustafa   Egypt 0 3 3
7 Kalervo Rauhala   Finland 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Ercole Gallegati   Italy Fall Émile Courtois   Belgium
Axel Grönberg   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Gustav Gocke   Germany
Kalervo Rauhala   Finland Decision, 3–0 Adel Ibrahim Moustafa   Egypt
Ali Özdemir   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Lars Bilet   Norway
Gyula Németi   Hungary Fall Jerzy Gryt   Poland
Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Gyula Németi   Hungary 1 0 1
3 Axel Grönberg   Sweden 1 1 2
3 Ali Özdemir   Turkey 1 1 2
5 Émile Courtois   Belgium 0 3 3
5 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 3 0 3
7 Gustav Gocke   Germany 1 3 4
7 Kalervo Rauhala   Finland 3 1 4
9 Lars Bilet   Norway 3 3 6
9 Jerzy Gryt   Poland 3 3 6
9 Adel Ibrahim Moustafa   Egypt 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union Walkover Émile Courtois   Belgium
Axel Grönberg   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Ercole Gallegati   Italy
Kalervo Rauhala   Finland Fall Gustav Gocke   Germany
Gyula Németi   Hungary Decision, 3–0 Ali Özdemir   Turkey
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Gyula Németi   Hungary 1 1 2
3 Axel Grönberg   Sweden 2 1 3
4 Kalervo Rauhala   Finland 4 0 4
5 Ali Özdemir   Turkey 2 3 5
6 Émile Courtois   Belgium 3 3 6
6 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 3 3 6
8 Gustav Gocke   Germany 4 3 7

Round 4

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The tie for third-place was broken by head-to-head results, with Rauhala advancing to the medal rounds due to his win over Németi in this round.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Axel Grönberg   Sweden Decision, 3–0 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union
Kalervo Rauhala   Finland Decision, 3–0 Gyula Németi   Hungary
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union 0 3 3
2 Axel Grönberg   Sweden 3 1 4
3 Kalervo Rauhala   Finland 4 1 5
4 Gyula Németi   Hungary 2 3 5

Medal rounds

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Grönberg's victorys over Rauhala (in round 1) and Belov (in round 2) counted for the medal round, giving him the gold medal. Rauhala and Belov faced off for the silver medal, which Rahuala won.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kalervo Rauhala   Finland Decision, 3–0 Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses Start Earned Total
  Axel Grönberg   Sweden 2 0 4 0 4
  Kalervo Rauhala   Finland 1 1 5 1 6
  Nikolay Belov   Soviet Union 0 2 3 3 6

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Middleweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Official Report 1955, p. 377.

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