Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle light heavyweight
| Men's freestyle light heavyweight at the Games of the XV Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Messuhalli | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 20–23 July | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 13 from 13 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Wrestling at the 1952 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 |
The men's freestyle light heavyweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 20 July to 23 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1]
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, 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Palm |  Sweden |
Decision, 3–0 | Kevin Coote |  Australia
|
| Henry Wittenberg |  United States |
Fall | Rodolfo Padron |  Venezuela
|
| Willy Lardon |  Switzerland |
Fall | Bob Steckle |  Canada
|
| Jan Theron |  South Africa |
Decision, 2–1 | Shrirang Jadhav |  India
|
| August Englas |  Soviet Union |
Decision, 3–0 | Adil Atan |  Turkey
|
| Max Leichter |  Germany |
Decision, 3–0 | Paavo Sepponen |  Finland
|
| Abbas Zandi |  Iran |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Henry Wittenberg | United States |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Abbas Zandi | Iran |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | August Englas | Soviet Union |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Max Leichter | Germany |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Viking Palm | Sweden |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Jan Theron | South Africa |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Adil Atan | Turkey |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Kevin Coote | Australia |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Shrirang Jadhav | India |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Rodolfo Padron | Venezuela |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Paavo Sepponen | Finland |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Bob Steckle | Canada |
0 | 3 | 3 |
Round 2[edit]
Lardon withdrew after his bout.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbas Zandi | Iran |
Decision, 3–0 | Kevin Coote | Australia
|
| Viking Palm | Sweden |
Fall | Rodolfo Padron | Venezuela
|
| Henry Wittenberg | United States |
Fall | Willy Lardon | Switzerland
|
| Jan Theron | South Africa |
Decision, 3–0 | Bob Steckle | Canada
|
| August Englas | Soviet Union |
Fall | Shrirang Jadhav | India
|
| Adil Atan | Turkey |
Fall | Max Leichter | Germany
|
| Paavo Sepponen | Finland |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Wittenberg | United States |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | August Englas | Soviet Union |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Viking Palm | Sweden |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Abbas Zandi | Iran |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Jan Theron | South Africa |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Adil Atan | Turkey |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Paavo Sepponen | Finland |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Max Leichter | Germany |
1 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | Willy Lardon | Switzerland |
0 | 3 | 3* |
| 10 | Kevin Coote | Australia |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Shrirang Jadhav | India |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Rodolfo Padron | Venezuela |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Bob Steckle | Canada |
3 | 3 | 6 |
Round 3[edit]
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbas Zandi | Iran |
Decision, 3–0 | Paavo Sepponen | Finland
|
| Viking Palm | Sweden |
Decision, 3–0 | Henry Wittenberg | United States
|
| Adil Atan | Turkey |
Fall | Jan Theron | South Africa
|
| August Englas | Soviet Union |
Fall | Max Leichter | Germany
|
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August Englas | Soviet Union |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Viking Palm | Sweden |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Abbas Zandi | Iran |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Adil Atan | Turkey |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Henry Wittenberg | United States |
0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Jan Theron | South Africa |
2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | Paavo Sepponen | Finland |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Max Leichter | Germany |
4 | 3 | 7 |
Round 4[edit]
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Palm | Sweden |
Decision, 2–1 | Abbas Zandi | Iran
|
| Henry Wittenberg | United States |
Decision, 3–0 | August Englas | Soviet Union
|
| Adil Atan | Turkey |
Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adil Atan | Turkey |
3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | Viking Palm | Sweden |
2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | August Englas | Soviet Union |
1 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Henry Wittenberg | United States |
3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Abbas Zandi | Iran |
2 | 3 | 5 |
Round 5[edit]
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Wittenberg | United States |
Fall | Adil Atan | Turkey
|
| Viking Palm | Sweden |
Decision, 2–1 | August Englas | Soviet Union
|
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viking Palm | Sweden |
3 | 1 | 4 |
| 1 | Henry Wittenberg | United States |
4 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Adil Atan | Turkey |
3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | August Englas | Soviet Union |
4 | 3 | 7 |
Medal rounds[edit]
Palm's victory over Wittenberg in round 3 and Wittenberg's victory over Atan in round 5 counted for the medal round. The only bout left for the round therefore was Palm against Atan, with Wittenberg a spectator—who had to hope for an Atan victory to create a three-way tie at 1–1 which Wittenberg would win on bad points to take gold. Palm was able to defeat Atan in a split decision, however, and the Swede thereby won the gold medal, having beaten both of the other medalists.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Palm | Sweden |
Decision, 2–1 | Adil Atan | Turkey
|
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Start | Earned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Viking Palm | Sweden |
2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
 |
Henry Wittenberg | United States |
1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
 |
Adil Atan | Turkey |
0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's freestyle light heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- ^ Official Report, p. 362.
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