The freestyle bantamweight was one of five freestyle wrestling weight classes contested on the Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other wrestling events, it was open only to men. The bantamweight was the lightest class, allowing wrestlers of up to 54 kilograms (119 lb).[1] Each nation could enter up to 12 wrestlers.[2]
| Men's bantamweight freestyle wrestling at the Games of the IV Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | White City Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Date | July 20 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 13 from 3 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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11 British athletes, 1 American, and 1 Canadian participated.
Competition format
editThe event was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match between the semifinal losers. The final and bronze medal match were best two-of-three, while all other rounds were a single bout. Bouts were 15 minutes, unless one wrestler lost by fall (two shoulders on the ground at the same time). Other than falls, decisions were made by the judges or, if they did not agree, the referee.
Wrestlers could "take hold how and where they please[d]" except that "hair, flesh, ears, private parts, or clothes may not be seized"; striking, scratching, twisting fingers, butting, and kicking were prohibited. Holds "obtained that the fear of breakage or dislocation of a limb shall induce a wrestler to give the fall" were outlawed, and particularly the double-nelson, hammerlock, strangle, half-strangle, scissors, hang, flying mare with palm uppermost, and the foot twist.[3]
Results
editStandings
edit| Place | Wrestler | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Mehnert | .svg){kind=small} United States of America
|
| 2 | William J. Press |  Great Britain
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| 3 | Aubert Côté | .svg){kind=small} Canada
|
| 4 | Frederick Tomkins | Great Britain
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| 5 | Fred Davis | Great Britain
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| Burt Sansom | Great Britain
| |
| George Saunders | Great Britain
| |
| Harry Sprenger | Great Britain
| |
| 9 | John Cox | Great Britain
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| William Cox | Great Britain
| |
| Frederick Knight | Great Britain
| |
| Guy Schwan | Great Britain
| |
| Henry Witherall | Great Britain
|
Bracket
edit| First Round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||
| Fall (5:27) | ||||||||||
 William Press (GBR)
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| Fall (8:48) | ||||||||||
| Henry Witherall (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| William Press (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Fall (4:31) | ||||||||||
| Bruce Sansom (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Bruce Sansom (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Fall (0:55) | ||||||||||
| George Schwan (GBR)
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| William Press (GBR)
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| Fall (6:31) | ||||||||||
| Frederick Tomkins (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Frederick Tomkins (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Fall (4:57) | ||||||||||
| William Cox (GBR)
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| Frederick Tomkins (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Fall (4:22) | ||||||||||
| George Saunders (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| George Saunders (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| 2–0 (falls 11:45/3:57) | ||||||||||
| John Cox (GBR)
| ||||||||||
William Press (GBR) 
| ||||||||||
| Decision | ||||||||||
 George Mehnert (USA) 
| ||||||||||
| Fred Davis (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Decision | ||||||||||
| Frank Knight (GBR)
| ||||||||||
| Fred Davis (GBR)
| ||||||||||
 Aubert Côté (CAN)
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| Fall (6:40) | ||||||||||
| Aubert Côté (CAN)
| ||||||||||
| George Mehnert (USA)
| Third place | |||||||||
| Fall (4:01) | 2–0 (falls 3:55/8:50) | |||||||||
| Harry Sprenger (GBR)
| Aubert Côté (CAN) 
| |||||||||
| George Mehnert (USA)
| Frederick Tomkins (GBR)
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Wrestling at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Bantamweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ Official Report, p. 40.
- ^ Official Report, pp. 621–22.
Sources
edit- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
- De Wael, Herman (2001). "Freestyle Wrestling 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 28 May 2006.