Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle light heavyweight

The men's freestyle light 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 light heavyweight
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
Dates28 November–1 December
Competitors12 from 12 nations
Medalists
Gholam Reza Takhti  Iran
Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union
Pete Blair  United States
Wrestling at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Greco-Roman
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen
Freestyle
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen

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

Defteraios withdrew after his bout.

Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Kevin Coote AustraliaDecision, 3–0Bob Steckle Canada
Gholam Reza Takhti IranFallJan Theron South Africa
Peter Blair United StatesFallVeikko Lahti Finland
Adil Atan TurkeyFallMitsuhiro Ohira Japan
Boris Kulayev Soviet UnionDecision, 3–0Viking Palm Sweden
Gerry Martina IrelandFallSpyros Defteraios Greece
Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1Adil Atan Turkey000
1Peter Blair United States000
1Gerry Martina Ireland000
1Gholam Reza Takhti Iran000
5Kevin Coote Australia011
5Boris Kulayev Soviet Union011
7Veikko Lahti Finland033
7Mitsuhiro Ohira Japan033
7Viking Palm Sweden033
7Bob Steckle Canada033
7Jan Theron South Africa033
12Spyros Defteraios Greece033*

Round 2
Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Jan Theron South AfricaDecision, 3–0Kevin Coote Australia
Gholam Reza Takhti IranFallBob Steckle Canada
Mitsuhiro Ohira JapanDecision, 2–1Veikko Lahti Finland
Viking Palm SwedenDecision, 3–0Peter Blair United States
Boris Kulayev Soviet UnionDecision, 2–1Adil Atan Turkey
Gerry Martina IrelandByeN/AN/A
Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1Gerry Martina Ireland000
1Gholam Reza Takhti Iran000
3Boris Kulayev Soviet Union112
4Adil Atan Turkey033
4Peter Blair United States033
6Kevin Coote Australia134
6Mitsuhiro Ohira Japan314
6Viking Palm Sweden314
6Jan Theron South Africa314
10Veikko Lahti Finland336
10Bob Steckle Canada336

Round 3
Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Kevin Coote AustraliaFallGerry Martina Ireland
Peter Blair United StatesFallJan Theron South Africa
Gholam Reza Takhti IranFallMitsuhiro Ohira Japan
Adil Atan TurkeyDecision, 2–1Viking Palm Sweden
Boris Kulayev Soviet UnionByeN/AN/A
Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1Gholam Reza Takhti Iran000
2Boris Kulayev Soviet Union202
3Peter Blair United States303
3Gerry Martina Ireland033
5Adil Atan Turkey314
5Kevin Coote Australia404
7Mitsuhiro Ohira Japan437
7Viking Palm Sweden437
7Jan Theron South Africa437

Round 4
Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Boris Kulayev Soviet UnionFallGerry Martina Ireland
Gholam Reza Takhti IranFallKevin Coote Australia
Peter Blair United StatesDecision, 3–0Adil Atan Turkey
Points
RankWrestlerNationStartEarnedTotal
1Gholam Reza Takhti Iran000
2Boris Kulayev Soviet Union202
3Peter Blair United States314
4Gerry Martina Ireland336
5Adil Atan Turkey437
5Kevin Coote Australia437

Medal rounds

None of the medalists had faced each other yet, so a full round-robin was held. Takhti beat each of the other two medalists to win the gold medal, with Kulayev earning silver by beating Blair.

Bouts
WinnerNationVictory TypeLoserNation
Gholam Reza Takhti IranFallBoris Kulayev Soviet Union
Boris Kulayev Soviet UnionFallPeter Blair United States
Gholam Reza Takhti IranDecision, 3–0Peter Blair United States
Points
RankWrestlerNationWinsLosses
Gholam Reza Takhti Iran20
Boris Kulayev Soviet Union11
Peter Blair United States02

References
  1. "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Light Heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. Official Report, p. 670.
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