| Event: | Men's freestyle heavyweight |
| Games: | 1932 Summer |
| Venue: | Grand Olympic Auditorium |
| Dates: | 1–3 August |
| Competitors: | 3 |
| Nations: | 3 |
| Gold: | Johan Richthoff |
| Goldnoc: | SWE |
| Silver: | Jack Riley |
| Silvernoc: | USA |
| Bronze: | Nickolaus Hirschl |
| Bronzenoc: | AUT |
| Prev: | 1928 |
| Next: | 1936 |
The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place from 1 August to 3 August at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1] [2] This weight class was not limited by maximum weight and was open to wrestlers above 87kg.[3]
This freestyle wrestling competition did not use the single-elimination bracket format previously used for Olympic freestyle wrestling but instead followed the format that was introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman wrestling, using an elimination system based on the accumulation of points. 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.[4]
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 August 1932 | Round 1 | |
| 2 August 1932 | Round 2 | |
| 3 August 1932 | Final round |
With only three wrestlers, there could only be three total bouts over three rounds. In the first, Hirschl had a bye while Richthoff defeated Riley by decision. This left Hirschl with 0 points, Richthoff with 1, and Riley with 3.[5]
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decision | |||||
| Bye | N/A | N/A |
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
In the second bout, Richthoff won again, this time over Hirschl. As the victory was by decision, Richthoff moved to 2 points; the other wrestlers finished the round with 3. Richthoff was assured of the gold medal after beating both the other wrestlers.[5]
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decision | |||||
| Bye | N/A | N/A |
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
The final round, pitting the two wrestlers who had lost to Richthoff against each other, was in effect a silver/bronze match. Riley won to take the silver.[5]
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall |
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 6 |