Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight
The men's freestyle 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.[1]
| Men's freestyle heavyweight at the Games of the XVI Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Royal Exhibition Building | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 28 November–1 December | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 11 from 11 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Competition format edit
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.[2][1]
Results edit
Round 1 edit
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yusein Mekhmedov |  Bulgaria |
Decision, 3–0 | Hossein Nouri |  Iran
|
| Ivan Vykhristyuk |  Soviet Union |
Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva |  New Zealand
|
| Ken Richmond |  Great Britain |
Decision, 3–0 | Lila Ram |  India
|
| Hamit Kaplan |  Turkey |
Decision, 2–1 | Bill Kerslake |  United States
|
| Ray Mitchell |  Australia |
Decision, 2–1 | Saburo Nakao |  Japan
|
| Taisto Kangasniemi |  Finland |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | John Da Silva | New Zealand |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Bill Kerslake | United States |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Saburo Nakao | Japan |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Hossein Nouri | Iran |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Lila Ram | India |
0 | 3 | 3 |
Round 2 edit
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
Fall | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland
|
| Hossein Nouri | Iran |
Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva | New Zealand
|
| Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union |
Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain
|
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
Fall | Lila Ram | India
|
| Bill Kerslake | United States |
Fall | Ray Mitchell | Australia
|
| Saburo Nakao | Japan |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Bill Kerslake | United States |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Saburo Nakao | Japan |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Hossein Nouri | Iran |
3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
1 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | John Da Silva | New Zealand |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Lila Ram | India |
3 | 3 | 6 |
Round 3 edit
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
Fall | Saburo Nakao | Japan
|
| Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
Decision, 3–0 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union
|
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
Fall | Hossein Nouri | Iran
|
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
Fall | Bill Kerslake | United States
|
| Ray Mitchell | Australia |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
4 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | Soviet Union |
2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Bill Kerslake | United States |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Saburo Nakao | Japan |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Hossein Nouri | Iran |
4 | 3 | 7 |
Round 4 edit
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
Fall | Ray Mitchell | Australia
|
| Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain
|
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Ray Mitchell | Australia |
4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
4 | 3 | 7 |
Medal rounds edit
Mekhmedov's victory over Kangasniemi in round 2 counted for the medal rounds. That victory essentially decided the silver medal, as Kaplan defeated both of the other two wrestlers to take the gold medal.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
Decision, 3–0 | Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria
|
| Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
Decision, 3–0 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland
|
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Hamit Kaplan | Turkey |
2 | 0 |
 |
Yusein Mekhmedov | Bulgaria |
1 | 1 |
 |
Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |
0 | 2 |
References edit
- ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ Official Report, p. 672.