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

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Men's Greco-Roman heavyweight
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueMessuhalli
Dates24–27 July
Competitors10 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tauno Kovanen  Finland
← 1948
1956 →

The men's Greco-Roman heavyweight 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] Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).[2]

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 three points. The winner received one point if the win was by decision and zero points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least five points was eliminated. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when three wrestlers remained. These three 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
Willi Waltner  Germany Walkover K. Richmond[note 1]  Great Britain
Antonios Georgoulis  Greece Fall Adolfo Ramírez  Argentina
Tauno Kovanen  Finland Decision, 3–0 Alexandru Şuli  Romania
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Fall József Kovács  Hungary
Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union Walkover A. Baarendse[note 1]  Belgium
Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden Fall Guido Fantoni  Italy
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden 0 0 0
1 Antonios Georgoulis  Greece 0 0 0
1 Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union 0 0 0
1 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 0 0 0
1 Willi Waltner  Germany 0 0 0
6 Tauno Kovanen  Finland 0 1 1
7 Guido Fantoni  Italy 0 3 3
7 József Kovács  Hungary 0 3 3
7 Adolfo Ramírez  Argentina 0 3 3
7 Alexandru Şuli  Romania 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Willi Waltner  Germany Decision, 3–0 Antonios Georgoulis  Greece
Tauno Kovanen  Finland Decision, 3–0 Adolfo Ramírez  Argentina
Alexandru Şuli  Romania Decision, 2–1 József Kovács  Hungary
Guido Fantoni  Italy Decision, 2–1 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia
Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union Fall Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Willi Waltner  Germany 0 1 1
3 Tauno Kovanen  Finland 1 1 2
4 Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden 0 3 3
4 Antonios Georgoulis  Greece 0 3 3
4 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 0 3 3
7 Guido Fantoni  Italy 3 1 4
7 Alexandru Şuli  Romania 3 1 4
9 József Kovács  Hungary 3 3 6
9 Adolfo Ramírez  Argentina 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision, 3–0
Tauno Kovanen  Finland Decision, 3–0 Willi Waltner  Germany
Alexandru Şuli  Romania Decision, 3–0 Antonios Georgoulis  Greece
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Fall Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden
Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union Fall Guido Fantoni  Italy
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Tauno Kovanen  Finland 2 1 3
2 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 3 0 3
4 Willi Waltner  Germany 1 3 4
5 Alexandru Şuli  Romania 4 1 5
6 Bengt Fahlkvist  Sweden 3 3 6
6 Antonios Georgoulis  Greece 3 3 6
8 Guido Fantoni  Italy 4 3 7

Round 4

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Fall Willi Waltner  Germany
Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union Fall Tauno Kovanen  Finland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union 0 0 0
2 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 3 0 3
3 Tauno Kovanen  Finland 3 3 6
4 Willi Waltner  Germany 4 3 7

Medal rounds

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Kotkas's victory over Kovanen in round 4 counted for the medal rounds.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Fall Tauno Kovanen  Finland
Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union Fall Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses Start Earned Total
1st place, gold medalist(s) Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union 2 0 0 0 0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 1 1 3 3 6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tauno Kovanen  Finland 0 2 6 3 9

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Richmond of Great Britain and Baarendse of Belgium are listed as participating by the Official Report, but neither wrestler actually competed—both losing their first-round matches by walkover and not competing thereafter.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Official Report 1955, p. 381.

General