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 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Greco-Roman | |
Fly | men |
Bantam | men |
Feather | men |
Light | men |
Welter | men |
Middle | men |
Light heavy | men |
Heavy | men |
Freestyle | |
Fly | men |
Bantam | men |
Feather | men |
Light | men |
Welter | men |
Middle | men |
Light heavy | men |
Heavy | men |
Competition format
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
Round 1
- Bouts
Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Hussain Noori | ![]() |
Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva | ![]() |
Ken Richmond | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Lila Ram | ![]() |
Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | Decision, 2–1 | Bill Kerslake | ![]() |
Ray Mitchell | ![]() | Decision, 2–1 | Saburo Nakao | ![]() |
Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2 | Ray Mitchell | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2 | Ken Richmond | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
7 | John Da Silva | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
7 | Bill Kerslake | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
7 | Saburo Nakao | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
7 | Hussain Noori | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
7 | Lila Ram | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Round 2
- Bouts
Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | Fall | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() |
Hussain Noori | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | John Da Silva | ![]() |
Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | ![]() |
Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | Fall | Lila Ram | ![]() |
Bill Kerslake | ![]() | Fall | Ray Mitchell | ![]() |
Saburo Nakao | ![]() | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 |
1 | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 |
3 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 2 |
4 | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 3 |
4 | Bill Kerslake | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 |
4 | Saburo Nakao | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 |
7 | Ray Mitchell | ![]() | 1 | 3 | 4 |
7 | Hussain Noori | ![]() | 3 | 1 | 4 |
7 | Ken Richmond | ![]() | 1 | 3 | 4 |
10 | John Da Silva | ![]() | 3 | 3 | 6 |
10 | Lila Ram | ![]() | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Round 3
- Bouts
Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | Fall | Saburo Nakao | ![]() |
Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() |
Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | Fall | Hussain Noori | ![]() |
Ken Richmond | ![]() | Fall | Bill Kerslake | ![]() |
Ray Mitchell | ![]() | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 2 |
3 | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 |
4 | Ray Mitchell | ![]() | 4 | 0 | 4 |
4 | Ken Richmond | ![]() | 4 | 0 | 4 |
6 | Ivan Vykhristyuk | ![]() | 2 | 3 | 5 |
7 | Bill Kerslake | ![]() | 3 | 3 | 6 |
7 | Saburo Nakao | ![]() | 3 | 3 | 6 |
9 | Hussain Noori | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Round 4
- Bouts
Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | Fall | Ray Mitchell | ![]() |
Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Ken Richmond | ![]() |
Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2 | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2 | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | 2 | 1 | 3 |
4 | Ray Mitchell | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 7 |
4 | Ken Richmond | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Medal rounds
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 | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() |
Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | Decision, 3–0 | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() |
- Points
Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Hamit Kaplan | ![]() | 2 | 0 |
![]() | Yusein Mekhmedov | ![]() | 1 | 1 |
![]() | Taisto Kangasniemi | ![]() | 0 | 2 |
References
- "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.