Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight

Men's light heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
DatesDecember 3–6
Competitors10 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden
← 1952
1960 →
Wrestling at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Greco-Roman
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen
Freestyle
Flymen
Bantammen
Feathermen
Lightmen
Weltermen
Middlemen
Light heavymen
Heavymen

The men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight was a Greco-Roman wrestling event held as part of the Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the tenth appearance of the event. Light heavyweight was the second-heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing up to 87 kilograms.[1]

Competition format[edit]

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, 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[edit]

Source: Official results[3][1]

Round 1[edit]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Adil Atan  Turkey Decision, 2–1 Gyula Kovács  Hungary
Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria
Dale O. Thomas  United States Fall Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria
Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden Decision, 3–0 Veikko Lahti  Finland
Bob Steckle  Canada Decision, 2–1 Victor Mucha  Australia
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Dale O. Thomas  United States 0 0 0
2 Adil Atan  Turkey 0 1 1
2 Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union 0 1 1
2 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden 0 1 1
2 Bob Steckle  Canada 0 1 1
6 Gyula Kovács  Hungary 0 3 3
6 Veikko Lahti  Finland 0 3 3
6 Victor Mucha  Australia 0 3 3
6 Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria 0 3 3
6 Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria 0 3 3

Round 2[edit]

Atan withdrew due to injury after his bout.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria Decision, 2–1 Adil Atan  Turkey
Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Gyula Kovács  Hungary
Veikko Lahti  Finland Fall Dale O. Thomas  United States
Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria Fall Victor Mucha  Australia
Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden Fall Bob Steckle  Canada
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden 1 0 1
2 Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union 1 1 2
3 Veikko Lahti  Finland 3 0 3
3 Dale O. Thomas  United States 0 3 3
3 Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria 3 0 3
6 Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria 3 1 4
6 Bob Steckle  Canada 1 3 4
8 Adil Atan  Turkey 1 3 4*
9 Gyula Kovács  Hungary 3 3 6
9 Victor Mucha  Australia 3 3 6

Round 3[edit]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria Fall Dale O. Thomas  United States
Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Veikko Lahti  Finland
Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden Decision, 3–0 Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria
Bob Steckle  Canada Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden 1 1 2
2 Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union 2 1 3
3 Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria 4 0 4
3 Bob Steckle  Canada 4 0 4
5 Dale O. Thomas  United States 3 3 6
6 Eugen Wiesberger Jr.  Austria 3 3 6
7 Veikko Lahti  Finland 3 3 6

Round 4[edit]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria Fall Bob Steckle  Canada
Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union Decision, 3–0 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union 3 1 4
1 Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria 4 0 4
3 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden 2 3 5
4 Bob Steckle  Canada 4 3 7

Medal rounds[edit]

Nikolayev's victories over Sirakov in round 1 and over Nilsson in round 4 counted for the medal round, giving him the gold medal at 2–0 against the other medalists. Sirakov defeated Nilsson in a de facto silver medal bout.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria Decision, 3–0 Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valentin Nikolayev  Soviet Union 2 0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria 1 1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Karl-Erik Nilsson  Sweden 0 2

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Wrestling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 686.
  3. ^ "The Official Report of the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956" (PDF). The Organizing Committee of the XVI Olympiad, Melbourne. 1958. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
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