Wikipedia

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

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

Men's freestyle heavyweight
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
Dates28 November–1 December
Competitors11 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hamit Kaplan  Turkey
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Taisto Kangasniemi  Finland
← 1952
1960 →

Competition format

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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

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Round 1

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Hossein Nouri   Iran
Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 John Da Silva   New Zealand
Ken Richmond   Great Britain Decision, 3–0 Lila Ram   India
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Decision, 2–1 Bill Kerslake   United States
Ray Mitchell   Australia Decision, 2–1 Saburo Nakao   Japan
Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 0 0 0
2 Hamit Kaplan   Turkey 0 1 1
2 Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria 0 1 1
2 Ray Mitchell   Australia 0 1 1
2 Ken Richmond   Great Britain 0 1 1
2 Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union 0 1 1
7 John Da Silva   New Zealand 0 3 3
7 Bill Kerslake   United States 0 3 3
7 Saburo Nakao   Japan 0 3 3
7 Hossein Nouri   Iran 0 3 3
7 Lila Ram   India 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria Fall Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland
Hossein Nouri   Iran Decision, 3–0 John Da Silva   New Zealand
Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Ken Richmond   Great Britain
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Fall Lila Ram   India
Bill Kerslake   United States Fall Ray Mitchell   Australia
Saburo Nakao   Japan Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan   Turkey 1 0 1
1 Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria 1 0 1
3 Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union 1 1 2
4 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 0 3 3
4 Bill Kerslake   United States 3 0 3
4 Saburo Nakao   Japan 3 0 3
7 Ray Mitchell   Australia 1 3 4
7 Hossein Nouri   Iran 3 1 4
7 Ken Richmond   Great Britain 1 3 4
10 John Da Silva   New Zealand 3 3 6
10 Lila Ram   India 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland Fall Saburo Nakao   Japan
Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Fall Hossein Nouri   Iran
Ken Richmond   Great Britain Fall Bill Kerslake   United States
Ray Mitchell   Australia Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan   Turkey 1 0 1
2 Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria 1 1 2
3 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 3 0 3
4 Ray Mitchell   Australia 4 0 4
4 Ken Richmond   Great Britain 4 0 4
6 Ivan Vykhristyuk   Soviet Union 2 3 5
7 Bill Kerslake   United States 3 3 6
7 Saburo Nakao   Japan 3 3 6
9 Hossein Nouri   Iran 4 3 7

Round 4

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland Fall Ray Mitchell   Australia
Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Ken Richmond   Great Britain
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Hamit Kaplan   Turkey 1 0 1
2 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 3 0 3
2 Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria 2 1 3
4 Ray Mitchell   Australia 4 3 7
4 Ken Richmond   Great Britain 4 3 7

Medal rounds

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Mekhmedov's victory over Kangasniemi in round 2 counted for the medal rounds. That victory essentially decided the silver medal, as Kaplan defeated both of the other two wrestlers to take the gold medal.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria
Hamit Kaplan   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses
  Hamit Kaplan   Turkey 2 0
  Husein Mehmedov   Bulgaria 1 1
  Taisto Kangasniemi   Finland 0 2

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Heavyweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Official Report 1958, p. 672.

General

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