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Wrestling at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

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Men's freestyle heavyweight
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
VenueDeutschlandhalle
Dates3–4 August
Competitors11 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hjalmar Nyström  Finland
← 1932
1948 →

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin took place from 3 August to 4 August at the Deutschlandhalle. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1][2] This weight class allowed wrestlers over 87kg.[3]

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, with a slight modification. 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 if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 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.[3]

Schedule

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Date Event
3 August 1936 Round 1
4 August 1936 Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5

Results

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Round 1

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Of the winners, three won by fall and advanced with 0 points (as did Herland, who had a bye) while two won by decision and moved to the second round with 1 point. Of the losers, Gehring lost by split decision and received 2 points while the other five received 3 points for losses by fall or unanimous decision.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia Fall Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia
Mehmet Çoban  Turkey Decision, 3–0 Léon Charlier  Belgium
Willy Bürki  Switzerland Decision, 2–1 Georg Gehring  Germany
Nils Åkerlindh  Sweden Fall Roy Dunn  United States
Hjalmar Nyström  Finland Fall George Chiga  Canada
Robert Herland  France Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Nils Akerlindh  Sweden 0 0 0
1 Robert Herland  France 0 0 0
1 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland 0 0 0
1 Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia 0 0 0
5 Willy Bürki  Switzerland 0 1 1
5 Mehmet Çoban  Turkey 0 1 1
7 Georg Gehring  Germany 0 2 2
8 Léon Charlier  Belgium 0 3 3
8 George Chiga  Canada 0 3 3
8 Roy Dunn  United States 0 3 3
8 Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia 0 3 3

Round 2

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The four men who started the round with 0 points all ended with a different number of points: Palusalu won by fall, staying at 0; Akerlindh won by decision, earning 1 point; Nyström lost by split decision, accumulating 2 points; and Herland lost by fall, getting 3 points. With four of the five bouts ending by fall, Bürki stayed at 1 point, Gehring stayed at 2, and Klapuch stayed at 3 (as did Chiga, who had a bye). Çoban's loss moved him to 4 points; Charlier's and Dunn's eliminated them.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia Fall Robert Herland  France
Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia Fall Léon Charlier  Belgium
Georg Gehring  Germany Fall Mehmet Çoban  Turkey
Willy Bürki  Switzerland Fall Roy Dunn  United States
Nils Akerlindh  Sweden Decision, 2–1 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland
George Chiga  Canada Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia 0 0 0
2 Nils Akerlindh  Sweden 0 1 1
2 Willy Bürki  Switzerland 1 0 1
4 Georg Gehring  Germany 2 0 2
4 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland 0 2 2
6 George Chiga  Canada 3 0 3
6 Robert Herland  France 0 3 3
6 Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia 3 0 3
9 Mehmet Çoban  Turkey 1 3 4
10 Léon Charlier  Belgium 3 3 6
11 Roy Dunn  United States 3 3 6

Round 3

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Palusalu picked up his first point, winning by decision to eliminate Çoban. Akerlindh also finished the round with 1 point, defeating Bürki (who stayed in competition with 4 points) by fall. Nyström stayed at 2 points with a bye; Herland stayed at 3 with a win by fall. Klapuch received his fourth point. Gehring and Chiga were eliminated.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Robert Herland  France Fall George Chiga  Canada
Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia Decision, 3–0 Mehmet Çoban  Turkey
Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia Decision, 3–0 Georg Gehring  Germany
Nils Akerlindh  Sweden Fall Willy Bürki  Switzerland
Hjalmar Nyström  Finland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia 0 1 1
1 Nils Akerlindh  Sweden 1 0 1
3 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland 2 0 2
4 Robert Herland  France 3 0 3
5 Willy Bürki  Switzerland 1 3 4
5 Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia 3 1 4
7 Georg Gehring  Germany 2 3 5
8 George Chiga  Canada 3 3 6
9 Mehmet Çoban  Turkey 4 3 7

Round 4

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All three bouts were won by fall, with the winners staying on their starting point totals (Palusalu at 1, Nyström at 2, Klapuch at 4). The loss was not enough to eliminate Akerlindh, who started with 1 point and ended with 4; he withdrew after the round anyway. Herland and Bürki, however, were eliminated.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Hjalmar Nyström  Finland Fall Robert Herland  France
Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia Fall Willy Bürki  Switzerland
Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia Fall Nils Akerlindh  Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia 1 0 1
2 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland 2 0 2
3 Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia 4 0 4
4 Nils Akerlindh  Sweden 1 3 4r
5 Robert Herland  France 3 3 6
6 Willy Bürki  Switzerland 4 3 7

Round 5

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Palusalu had previously defeated Klapuch, but Nyström had not faced either other wrestler. Klapuch received the bye in this round, with Nyström and Palusalu wrestling. Had Nyström earned fewer than 3 points in the round, another bout would have been contested with Nyström and Klapuch facing off.

Klapuch could not earn the gold medal regardless of the result. A Palusalu win would result in him taking gold with fewer points than either other remaining wrestler and no possible bouts left for the Estonian. A Palusalu loss by split decision would still place him at fewer points than Klapuch, keeping Klapuch from the gold. Even a Palusalu loss by fall or unanimous decision, leaving Palusalu and Klapuch tied on points, would not be enough for Klapuch, as Palusalu had the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Nyström still had a chance at the gold medal. A win by fall or unanimous decision over Palusalu followed by any win over Klapuch would earn gold for Nyström. A win by split decision over Palusalu would leave the men tied on points and give Nyström the head-to-head tie-breaker, but Nyström would still need to face Klapuch and therefore would need to go scoreless in that final bout—that is, win by fall, to take the gold.

Palusalu defeated Nyström by unanimous decision. This gave Nyström 5 points, eliminating him with the bronze medal. Klapuch and Palusalu were not eliminated, but could not face each other again, so the competition was over with Palusalu taking gold with 2 points and Klapuch silver with 4.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia Decision, 3–0 Hjalmar Nyström  Finland
Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kristjan Palusalu  Estonia 1 1 2
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Klapuch  Czechoslovakia 4 0 4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hjalmar Nyström  Finland 2 3 5

References

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. ^ Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, p. 716.
  4. ^ a b c d Official Report, p. 736.